West Coast has held off a fast-finishing Melbourne by eight points in a seesawing contest at Subiaco on Sunday evening.
The Eagles had 30 scoring shots to 17 but repeatedly missed the target on an overcast afternoon with no breeze, hitting the post four times in a 12.18 (90) to 13.4 (82) result.
Mark Le Cras kicked 4.6 to be the dominant forward, his two majors in a four-goal burst during the third term helping the Eagles re-take the lead after the Demons threatened an upset when they moved 11 points ahead.
In an entertaining but far from pretty affair, both coaches will be more concerned by their respective side's sloppy ball movement.
And, even though West Coast held on for the win, John Worsfold will be disappointed Melbourne was in the contest until the final minutes. The Demons kicked three goals to one during the final term but a missed shot from Colin Sylvia in time on, that would have narrowed the gap to three points, ensured the Eagles held on.
Dean Cox, Andrew Embley, Adam Selwood and Le Cras all managed over 20 possessions but there was no stand-out Eagle after Daniel Kerr was forced off during the second quarter with a groin injury.
For Melbourne, Nathan Jones had 27 quality touches as he set up numerous Demon forward runs, with Brad Miller scoring three goals, all during the second quarter.
The Eagles may have scored through Ben McKinley in the 14th second but that was the prelude to a forgettable first quarter largely dominated by Melbourne in general play.
That West Coast was in front by nine points at the first break could only be attributed to Melbourne mistakes, particularly when Jared Rivers mis-timed his kick-in and delivered the ball straight to Le Cras for a gift goal.
Mistakes in defence continued to haunt the Demons throughout the second quarter as they gave up another two goals to West Coast, allowing the Eagles to build a 16-point buffer after Le Cras slotted his second.
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey responded by swinging Jones into the midfield with immediate effect, the hard-nosed on-baller was involved in the build-up to three goals from Miller in four minutes as Melbourne took the lead for the first time.
But Miller's third came at a cost, Rivers appearing to seriously injure his ankle running back with the flight in a marking contest with Josh Kennedy and team-mate Matthew Warnock.
Rivers' efforts may have helped Melbourne's transition from defence to attack for Miller to score, but it meant the Demons were down to two on the bench as fellow defender James Frawley also injured his hip.
West Coast were also a man down with Kerr off but Rivers and Frawley's absence caused defensive problems, allowing Cox and Selwood to kick late goals that gave the Eagles a nine-point lead at half-time.
The third term was one of two halves, the Demons dominating the first as they restricted West Coast's movement from defence and scored three goals, two of them from Russell Robertson to establish an 11-point lead.
Robertson could have had four for the quarter, though, if he'd made the distance with two set shots that appeared on target.
The misses came back to haunt Melbourne when Le Cras pulled one back for the Eagles against the run of play, having been awarded a dubious free kick for holding.
The goal proved just the kickstart West Coast needed as Le Cras slotted his fourth a minute later, and goals to Jamie McNamara and Adam Hunter made it four in eight minutes for the Eagles.
But West Coast did its best to throw away the result during the final term as a two-goal burst from Ricky Petterd gave Eagles' fans some nervous moments before their side just held on.
WEST COAST: 2.4, 7.7, 11.12, 12.18 (90)
MELBOURNE: 1.1, 7.3, 10.3, 13.4 (82)
GOALS: West Coast: Le Cras 4, Hunter 2, McKinley, Cockie, Cox, A. Selwood, McNamara, Masten
Melbourne: Miller 3, Robertson 2, Maric 2, Petterd 2, Bruce, Bartram, Bate, Jones,
BEST: West Coast: Le Cras, Cox, Selwood, Embley, Kennedy, Wirrpanda, Glass
Melbourne: Jones, Moloney, Miller, Davey, Bennell,
INJURIES: West Coast: Kerr (groin)
Melbourne: Rivers (ankle), Frawley (hip)
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: West Coast Matt Priddis (thigh) replaced in selected side by Will Schofield. Eric Mackenzie (calf) replaced in selected side by Scott Selwood.
UMPIRES: Margetts, Dalgleish, Schmitt
CROWD: 35,209 at Subiaco Oval