The Match
Essendon had beaten Fitzroy in their round 1 and round 8 matches by 53 and 43 points respectively. Fitzroy had beaten Essendon by 29 points in the third match of their round-robin Sectional matches.
Both teams had great difficulty playing football in the appalling ground conditions — as can be seen by the low scores — and the tough, bustling Fitzroy team handled the conditions far better than the Essendon team that had hoped to spread the game out as far as possible. Fitzroy took the lead in the first few minutes of the match, and Essendon were never able to catch up.
Essendon were further demoralized when Fitzroy champion forward and follower, Mick Grace, renowned for his marking skill and kicking prowess, flew high over a pack to take a spectacular high mark and kicked a long range goal.
In a very tight, defensive second half, as the playing conditions deteriorated even further, only one goal was scored. Fitzroy went on to beat Essendon 5.8 (38) to 3.5 (23).
Read more about this topic: 1898 VFL Grand Final
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