Melbourne great Garry Lyon didn't hold back in some harsh comments against his former side after last night's loss to Port Adelaide.

The Demons' very poor first half saw them kick only one goal to half time en route to an eventual 51 -point loss at the hands of the ladder-leading Port Adelaide.

Melbourne trailed by 33 points at half time and didn't register their first goal until the 24 minute mark of the second quarter.

But that wasn't the only thing that set Lyon off, with the clear difference between where both clubs are at alarming him.

โ€œThere is one team that is contending and on the back of that, there is one that is thoroughly pretending. Port Adelaide were clinical, Melbourne were pathetic,โ€ Lyon said on Fox Footy.

โ€œIt couldโ€™ve been a whole lot more. Port Adelaide, letโ€™s give them the credit. Their pressure early in the piece, they asked the question of a side who are flaky, thatโ€™s the bottom line.

โ€œPut the pressure on, the flakiness came to the foray, they kicked a goal late in the second quarter. They (Port Adelaide) are on top of the ladder for a reason.

โ€œThings are humming along nicely, theyโ€™ll tick the boxes and they will probably look at each other and ask where was the fierce, ferocious competition that we were expecting from this Melbourne Football Club.โ€

Lyon said he was disappointed that this is a consistent trend for the Demons.

โ€œI wish I could go and do something about it. They continually serve this up, year after year, and theyโ€™ve got to own it,โ€ he said on Fox Footyย post-game.

โ€œIt was an insipid performance. The inability to execute fundamental skill levels was shambolic.โ€

Lyon said he could have cited a number of examples that led to the Demons' disappointing loss.

โ€œWe couldโ€™ve picked out 70 of these from a Melbourne point of view,โ€ he said.

โ€œIf you turn the footy over in that manner and they did all night, youโ€™re never going to get any pressure on the Port Adelaide defence and rebound goals.