CARLTON’S BLUES – A BITTERSWEET VICTORY
By Chris Nice
A victory for Carlton against Greater Western Sydney in stormy conditions was dampened following injuries to star players Brianna Davey and Tayla Harris.
The Blues sit atop the AFLW ladder following their 21-point win at Drummoyne Oval, and join Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs as undefeated for the season.
Yet with Carlton medicos confirming Brianna Davey will miss the rest of the year with a ruptured ACL, their path moving forward is in doubt.
The Carlton skipper had racked up 16 disposals before injuring her right knee in a seemingly innocuous collision, with just over five minutes left on the clock in the final quarter.
Davey was stretchered off the field, with fellow teammates visibly upset by their captain’s injury post-game, several of them - including Darcy Vescio - in tears.
It initially appeared there would be more Carlton heartbreak on the horizon, with the Blues only registering four behinds for the first term opposed to the Giants’ single goal from Phoebe McWilliams.
Yet fortune fell in favour of the Blues in the end, with McWilliams’ goal resulting as the only major score from the Giants for the entire game.
As the wet and wild conditions worsened, play was close to being abandoned altogether as the lightning strikes intensified and came dangerously close to Drummoyne Oval.
After a 30-minute delay, the weather relented and play finally resumed.
But with slippery conditions underfoot and a greasy ball to match, the inaccuracy continued to plague the Blues.
The scores were level – 1.0 to 0.6 – midway through the second quarter, with both sides having difficulty controlling the ball in the unfavourable conditions.
Nicola Stevens ultimately mastered the wet conditions and broke Carlton’s goalless drought, following a skilful crumb and left-foot snap around the body, giving the Blues a seven-point lead at the main change.
Come the third term, Katie Loynes had similarly wrangled the wet ball under her control, slotting the Blues’ second, mirroring Stevens with a right-foot snap through the big sticks.
Darcy Vescio also chimed in with her first goal of the season and could have added two more to her name had she converted.
Although the scoreboard ticked over slowly and more often than not in increments of one, the Carlton pressure shut down many scoring opportunities for the Giants.
Sarah Hosking was at the forefront of the Blues’ pressure drive, finishing her night with a record 16 tackles, along with 12 possessions.
The Giants only added a single point to their score at the end of the third quarter, and would only manage to score one more for the night, finishing with 1.3.
The fourth quarter was definitely one to forget for the Blues, with injuries and inaccuracy unfortunately prominent.
Shaky in front of goal, Carlton were able to bolster their score to 30 after a five-point final quarter.
Alongside Davey’s season-ending injury, Tayla Harris remains in doubt for next week’s match against Brisbane, after suffering a possible shoulder injury following a desperate tackle in the game’s dying seconds.
With the extent of Harris’ injury yet to be determined, it will be a nervous wait for Carlton fans heading into next week’s clash against Brisbane at Ikon Park.
The Giants – now with two straight losses under their belt – will be desperate to attain their maiden victory against Collingwood, who also will wish to end their winless streak.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.3 (9)
CARLTON 0.4 1.7 3.7 3.12 (30)
GOALS Greater Western Sydney: McWilliams
Carlton: Stevens, Loynes, Vescio
BEST
Greater Western Sydney: Eva, Farrugia, Gum
Carlton: Davey, J. Hosking, S. Hosking
MELBOURNE FIRM AS PREMIERSHIP FAVOURITES AFTER TELLING WIN
By Zac Standish
It appears to be a case of no Erin Phillips, no Adelaide Crows, with the reigning premiers being dismantled by a clinical Melbourne outfit on Saturday afternoon at Casey Fields.
After a disappointing performance last week against the Lions at home, the Crows again failed to match the class and strength of their opposition.
After dominating field position for majority of the hotly-contested first quarter, Melbourne hit the scoreboard first, with Aliesha Newman producing a goal-of-the-year contender.
Newman’s Lance Franklin-like run down the wing and check-side banana from the boundary to finish proved to be one of the Demons’ many highlights for the game.
But the Crows hit back straight away, after full forward Sarah Perkins set up Abbey Holmes in the goal square, bringing the Crows back to within two points at quarter-time.
The second term saw the Demons flex their muscles, with the likes of Daisy Pearce and Karen Paxman getting on top of the Crows through the midfield.
Although the Crows had the wind advantage, they simply couldn’t get their hands on the ball.
Melbourne were able to consistently get the ball out of congestion and give their forwards the best chance of scoring.
The height and speed of the Demon forward attack was similarly too much to handle for Adelaide.
Through the work of Tegan Cunningham, Lauren Pearce and Shelley Scott, the Dees were able to pile on four goals to one for the term, coming away with a 20-point lead at half-time.
With a 0-2 start to the season looming, the reigning premiers were expected to come out firing in the second half.
But it wasn’t to be, as Bec Goddard's girls were again outclassed in the third term, while Melbourne grew their lead even further.
With Melissa Hickey snapping a classy goal just seconds into the quarter, the Crows appeared to drop their heads as the class of the Demons continued to shine through.
A classy goal by young star Ruth Wallace from a forward line stoppage was all the resistance Adelaide could muster in the third term.
Inaccurate kicking in front of goal from the Demons was all that saved the Crows from an embarrassing three-quarter time deficit.
The result seemingly decided, the last quarter again saw Melbourne dominate, as a dejected Adelaide team affirmed the view that they simply can’t win without Erin Phillips.
Aliesha Newman would put the finishing touches on an inspired Melbourne performance as she again broke away from a pack of Adelaide players and scored another goal.
Adelaide again managed one last consolation with Jenna McCormick benefitting off Perkins’ efforts, resulting in an easy major from the goal square.
The Crows had too many passengers for the game, with Ebony Marinoff, Chelsea Randall, Dayna Cox and Sarah Allan providing the only resistance against the Demons’ onslaught.
Next week is a do-or-die clash for the Crows as they look to face the in-form Western Bulldogs at Norwood Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Demons meanwhile travel to Perth to take on the Dockers at Fremantle Oval.
MELBOURNE 1.1 5.2 7.4 8.8 (56)
ADELAIDE 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 (24)
GOALS
Melbourne: Cunningham 2, Newman 2, Scott, L.Pearce, Hickey, Cranston
Adelaide: Holmes, Hewett, Wallace, McCormick
BEST
Melbourne: Paxman, Newman, Cunningham
Adelaide: Marinoff, Randall, S. Allen
OPTUS, YES! FREMANTLE WIN INAUGURAL GAME AT NEW STADIUM
By Nick D'Urbano
41,975 fans turned up to watch the first AFLW match at Optus Stadium. Photo: Sporting News
Fremantle have won the first game of Australian rules football at the new Optus Stadium with a 13-point win over Collingwood in front of a record 41,975 fans on Saturday night.
The Dockers were led brilliantly by Dana Hooker who had 20 disposals, two goals and six tackles in an inspiring display and Melissa Caulfield who slotted two of her own to help her team over the line in a tough battle in Perth.
“New ground, record crowd, let’s make our fans proud” read the Dockers’ banner to what was the largest ever crowd for a women’s domestic sporting event in Australia.
Yet in the early stages of the game, the Magpies threatened to spoil the occasion.
Collingwood got off to a bright start, thanks to Emma King kicking the first goal at the new stadium.
Christina Bernardi joined the party only moments later, slotting home the Magpies second as the away side started to flex early on.
The Dockers, however, finished the quarter strongly, slamming home four unanswered goals for the rest of the half as Hooker caught fire and was too hard to combat for the Pies midfield who failed to pack a punch.
Collingwood began to fight back in the third quarter and kicked a big goal through Bernardi to keep the Pies within touching distance.
Not long after, the game suddenly turned sour when NAB AFLW Rising Star nominee, Chloe Molloy was caught up in a melee which left her with a bruised jaw and ribs.
Fremantle, were able to respond in the aftermath of the fracas and round out the game to the delight of the home supporters.
Dockers coach, Michelle Cowan was pleased with the overall performance from her players and their ability to stay grounded on such a big stage.
"They were really focused on the four quarters, on coming to play and on preparing really well to play so I’m really proud of them in that regard," she said.
"No doubt, the occasion is an incredible occasion and a really special day for our football club and women’s sport as a whole.” Cowan said.
In contrary, Pies coach, Wayne Siekman was quite shocked with the sudden change in momentum after his side’s hot start.
"I think I’m still trying to work it out with the coaching group," Siekman said.
"The players had a really good honest chat when they got in the rooms and hopefully they talked about that.
"Freo lifted and probably went in a little bit harder. We couldn’t quite rise it to the next level and that sort of cost us.”
Fremantle face a tough task in the undefeated Melbourne at Fremantle Oval next week, while Collingwood return to the Olympic Park Oval when they face the winless Greater Western
Sydney on Sunday.
FREMANTLE 3.0 4.1 5.3 6.4 (40)
COLLINGWOOD 2.0 2.0 3.1 4.3 (27)
GOALS
Fremantle: Caulfield 2, Hooker 2, Atkins, Lavell
Collingwood: Bernardi 2, King, Lambert
BEST
Fremantle: Hooker, Donnellan, Caulfield
Collingwood: Kuys, Chiocci, Duffin
TOP DOG GOES DOWN IN BULLDOG VICTORY
By Athos Sirianos
The Western Bulldogs have hung on to record a nine-point win against Brisbane at the South Pine Sports Complex to maintain their perfect start to the season.
It didn’t take long after quarter-time for 18-year-old Isabel Huntington to showcase her ability, opening her account for the 2018 from point blank after taking a contested mark on the goal line.
Huntington then blew the game open after converting from a similar position through yet another contested mark which left her opponents helpless.
It looked as though the number one draft pick was set for a field day before injuring her knee while in the hunt for a third goal.
The injury exacerbates the side’s injury woes with Huntington joining Daria Bannister, who injured her ACL last week, on the long-term injury list.
While this was a sour end to a frantic few minutes of play, the Bulldogs added to the scoreboard and maintained a sense of solidarity in defence to keep the home side goalless at the main break.
Brisbane’s spirited fightback commenced after a cheeky bit of play from forward Jess Wuetschner on the boundary line.
With the ball heading for the boundary line, Wuetschner did enough to tap the ball onto her opponent’s foot to be rewarded with a free kick for out of bounds on the full.
The best was yet to come as the Brisbane forward kicked truly from the boundary line which sent the crowd of just under 5,300 into raptures.
Huntington’s absence in the forward line made it difficult for the Bulldogs to pose any real aerial threat, which resulted in them being kept goalless in the third term.
With the Lions staring down the barrel of their first loss since last year’s Grand Final, they threw everything at their opponents.
Brisbane were well and truly in the hunt after an unmarked Ally Anderson breathed fresh life into the side who now only trailed by eight points with four minutes to go.
But the cooler Bulldog heads ultimately prevailed, with Aisling Utri capitalising on Brisbane’s failure to man the mark.
The dynamic midfielder comfortably converted the goal to seal the win for the visitors by nine points - a result which places them in second position on the AFLW ladder.
A late Wuetschner goal was merely consolation, doing nothing to rattle the Bulldogs who by this point were set for their second win of the season.
Both sides are set for arduous challenges next week as the Bulldogs travel to Adelaide to face the reigning premiers in the match of the round, while the Lions face the red-hot Blues who currently sit on top of the ladder.
BRISBANE 0.2 0.3 1.4 3.6 (24)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.1 4.2 4.2 5.3 (33)
GOALS
Brisbane: Wuetschner 2, Anderson
Western Bulldogs: Huntington 2, Bruton, Scott, Utri
BEST
Brisbane: Anderson, Bates, Zielke, Lutkins
Western Bulldogs: Lamb, Kearney, Blackburn
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