Has an AFL game ever ended 54-42?
Yes. AFL has seen a final score of 54-42 3 times. It first happened on August 6, 1910, when Collingwood beat Fitzroy, and most recently on September 14, 1912, when Essendon beat Sydney.
That makes 54-42 the 1534th most common final score out of 6,607 that have ever occurred in AFL. One point away, 55-42 has happened 4 times and 54-43 has happened 2 times. Nearly all of its occurrences fall between 1890 and 1919.