Adelaide has tightened its grip on a top-four finish after two brilliant goals to Danielle Ponter helped the Crows to a thrilling two-point win over gutsy Geelong at Unley Oval.
It was fourth-placed Adelaide versus the fifth-ranked Cats on Friday night, with the winner likely to snare a precious double chance, and the top-quality contest matched the high stakes in play.
With inspirational skipper Chelsea Randall sidelined with an ankle injury suffered in last week’s loss to Brisbane, Adelaide led by a point at three-quarter time and held the visitors scoreless in a tension-packed final term to improve to a 7-2 record with a vital win.
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Ponter was the star in attack, while midfield mainstays Anne Hatchard (24 possessions) and Ebony Marinoff (23) worked tirelessly in the warm conditions.
Georgie Prespakis and Amy McDonald were outstanding with 23 possessions and seven clearances apiece as the brave Cats barely failed in their attempt to beat Adelaide for the first time in four meetings.
PONTER POUNCES
A superb running goal by Ponter was a highlight of a classic ‘attack versus defence’ encounter.
Adelaide took the third most potent attack in the league into the clash, while the Cats stormed into their second finals campaign with a 6-2 win-loss record that was built on a miserly defence.
Dan Lowther’s side had conceded just 165 points, second only to stingy Collingwood, across eight rounds at an average of just over 20 points conceded per game.
The visitors had to defend grimly from the opening bounce as the Crows piled on the pressure with the first seven inside 50s of the game but couldn’t register the first major.
Ponter broke the deadlock in fine style when she intercepted an ill-advised pass just on the defensive side of the centre circle late in the first term.
With no one between her and goal and Meg McDonald chasing desperately, the two-time premiership forward took four bounces and coolly converted a goal-of-the-year contender.
TOE-TO-TOE
The engrossing contest lifted a notch in the second and again in a scintillating third term.
The home side held a one-point lead at the first break after Kate Darby marked strongly and converted, but another piece of Ponter brilliance widened the gap.
In stark contrast to her first goal, Ponter was operating in a crowded phone booth when she gathered a hot ball from a stoppage and slotted her second from a tight angle.
The Cats had more of the ball but also had difficulty moving it out of their back half until superior work rate from Nina Morrison set up Julia Crockett-Grills for Geelong’s second.
The Cats trailed by three points at the main break but clawed their way into fourth spot on the live ladder every time they edged in front in a quarter where the lead changed hands four times.
PONTER GOES AGAIN
The Cats went inside 50 just four times as Adelaide tightened the screws in the final term but they had one last chance to pull off a historic win when a Crows free kick was contentiously reversed for retaliation.
Play was broken up from the Geelong kick to the wing and Ponter once again found herself in the centre square with an open field in front of her, this time with under a minute left.
With the home fans willing her on for a stunning repeat, Ponter set off on another bouncing run only for her fourth bounce to get away from her agonisingly close to goal.
But while her run didn’t result in a goal, it chewed up precious time off the clock and gave her side field position to hold on for a famous win.
SCOREBOARD
CROWS 1.1 2.5 4.5 4.6 (30)
CATS 1.0 2.2 4.4 4.4 (28)
GOALS Crows: Ponter 2, Kelly, Whiteley. Cats: Scheer, Crockett-Grills, Scott, Darby.
BEST Crows: Hatchard, Ponter, Marinoff, Martin, Gould, Thompson. Cats: A McDonald, Prespakis, Emonson, M McDonald, Derby, Webster.
Injuries: None
Venue: Unley Oval
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3. A.Hatchard (Adel)
2. A.McDonald (Geel)
1. D.Ponter (Adel)
DOGS LOCK IN FINALS RUN
The Western Bulldogs 32-point win over West Coast in Perth on Saturday all but confirms their spot in this season’s AFLW finals.
The Dogs will go into the final round against Carlton one win and percentage ahead of Gold Coast.
The Suns would need to beat Greater Western Sydney convincingly and the Dogs lose well to the Blues, for the two sides to swap ladder positions.
The Dogs controlled the game in their 8.7 (55) to 3.5 (23)win over West Coast, but the victory did come at a cost, with Kirsten McLeod’s long awaited return spoiled by an ankle injury.
Neither the Dogs or Suns has beaten a side above them on the ladder this season.
The Bulldogs have lost to North Melbourne, Geelong and Melbourne by a total of 80 points, although 64 of those were at the hands of the Demons.
The Suns have lost to the Kangaroos, Brisbane, Richmond and the Demons, by an average 38 points. Their biggest lost was to the Lions, in Round 3, by 73 points.
Both the Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs have tasted finals action before, with mixed results.
The Bulldogs claimed the title in an eight-team competition in 2018, beating Brisbane by six points in a thrilling grand final.
The Suns sole finals experience is a 70-point flogging at the hands of Fremantle in the 2020 semi-final.
IT’S A CRUEL GAME
The Bulldogs looked flat for the first few minutes against West Coast.
The first couple of minutes of the game was played almost entirely in the Eagles forward line; they just couldn’t make the most of those chances.
Things got worse for the Bulldogs just three minutes in when Kirsten McLeod went down with an ankle injury.
It was a cruel blow for McLeod, who was making her return to AFLW ranks for her first game in 575 days due to concussion issues.
She was chasing her first possession when her ankle got caught under her tackler, Jess Sedunary.
The stop in play sparked the Dogs into action. They dominated the rest of the quarter, finishing the term with 11 inside 50 entries to the Eagles five, on the back of 24 tackles for the term.
The Eagles went into the break with 15 players kept to just two touches or fewer for the term
The Dogs kicked the only three goals of the opening term and opened up a 16-point quarter-time lead.
They will be hoping McLeod’s latest stint on the sidelines is not too long. The 28-year-old has kicked 21 goals in 30 games since debuting in the opening round of the inaugural season.
LAMB FINDS FORM
Kristy Lamb looks to have re-found her best form at the right time for the Bulldogs as she juggles work and footy.
Lamb is working full-time organising the needs of the players who are taking part in the ICC T20 World Cup; scheduling buses, organising kit bags; that sort of thing.
It has had an impact on her footy and Dogs coach Nathan Burke said that because Lamb’s workload outside of football has been enormous in the past three weeks, they have had to manage her.
“Cricketers are apparently worse than footballers in terms of being demanding,” Burke said.
“She’s working 80-hours a week; all hours of the night to keep cricketers happy.
“It‘s taken its toll, so we have been starting her on the bench; she has been doing short spells on and off, to freshen her up a little.
“It worked today, but we need to freshen her up; the tournament hasn’t finished yet.”
It did work on Saturday in Perth against the Eagles.
Lamb was best afield with 21 possessions, including nine in the third term.
Over the previous three weeks, while the Dogs managed her, she averaged just 10 possessions per game.
She averaged almost 19 touches a game in the first five rounds of the season, before her duties to the cricket World Cup kicked in.
The Dogs will need to be smart with how they use her during the remainder of the T20 World Cup, with AFLW finals only two weeks away from starting.
Roos keep top 4 hopes alive! | 01:15
ATTACK LACKING
West Coast need to find a way to get some reward for their efforts.
Before Saturday’s game, the Eagles had averaged just 3.75 goals per game. They kicked three against the Dogs. They aren’t going to win many games with that tally and haven’t this season.
In Saturday’s loss to the Dogs, it was the second time this season they had not scored a goal before half-time. Their second terms have been terrible.
They have now had six goalless second term and Round 8 saw them record their fourth second quarter this season without a score at all.
Their first goal came late in the third term against the Dogs, from the boot of Isabella Lewis and was courtesy of a couple of consecutive 50m penalties given away by Celine Moody.
Their second goal was hopefully a sign of things to come, kicked by debutant Ashleigh Gomes, who was added to the Eagles list this season as an injury player.
SCOREBOARD
EAGLES 0.3 0.3 2.4 3.5 (23)
BULLDOGS 3.1 3.2 6.4 8.7 (55)
GOALS Eagles: Lewis, Gomes, Hartill. Bulldogs: Hartwig 2, Berry 2; Cranston, Bateman, Newton, Brown.
BEST Eagles: Swanson, Smith, McDonald, Lewis, McCarthy, Rowley. Bulldogs: Lamb, Berry, Hartwig, Blackburn, Moody, Pritchard.
INJURIES Bulldogs: McLeod (ankle).
VENUE Mineral Resources Park.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
3. K.Lamb
2. D.Berry
1. E.Swanston
SUNS KEEP FINALS HOPES ALIVE
Ex-Blue Courtney Jones has turned the tables on her former side, to lead the Gold Coast to a 27-point victory at Metricon Stadium on Friday night.
The Suns now sit just outside the top eight with one round remaining.
Gold Coast had trailed by six points at the main break but found their fight in a second half demolition, where they scored six goals to one.
Jones had the Suns’ first goal before putting the match beyond reach in the final term to see Gold Coast roll to a 6.6 (42) to 2.3 (15) win.
The result means Carlton’s finals hopes are officially over for season seven.
Suns keep finals hopes alive | 01:00
SCOREBOARD
GOLD COAST 0.0 0.3 3.4 6.6 (42)
CARLTON 0.1 1.3 1.3 2.3 (15)
GOALS Gold Coast: Jones 2, Howarth, Kimber, Bohanna, Meyer. Carlton: Schaap, Laloifi
BEST Gold Coast: Howarth, Bella, Rowbottom, Drennan, Hampson, Whitfort, D’Arcy. Carlton: Hill, McEvoy, Laloifi, Peterson, Sherar
INJURIES: Gold Coast: Randall (shoulder)
Venue: Metricon Stadium
