Western Bulldogs 0.0 4.0 5.2 6.2.38 Melbourne 1.5 2.6 4.7 5.9.39
Goals Western Bulldogs: Utri, McCarthy, Ferres, Brennan, McLeod, Conti
Melbourne: Cunningham 2, Paxman, Gay, Zanker
Alex Docherty's Best
Western Bulldogs: Conti, Lamb, Blackburn, Birch, Utri, Scott
Melbourne: Paxman, O'Dea, Cunningham, Hore, Gay, Pearce, Newman
It was heartbreak hotel for the Western Bulldogs' AFLW side on Saturday night, as Melbourne's chances of playing in finals remained alive, defeating a very determined Bulldogs' side by a solitary point at Marvel Stadium, capturing payback for the Bulldogs' win last year, knocking Melbourne out of the 2018 Grand Final equation
In what was the latest chapter of the Bulldogs/Demons rivalry, those that were at the game last night, would have been aware of a delay in the game. Not sure what happened there, as I saw two separate Bulldogs come off the ground before the ball was bounced. Even with the team set in place, they were second-best in the first quarter and it wasn't even close.
Whether or not the delay played into their heads or not remained to be seen, but Melbourne dominated play, dominated possession and just simply dominated the contest in the opening term. Six scoring shots to zero is a pretty damning statistic in any form of football. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Melbourne simply couldn't put their shots on goal away, kicking the first five points of the match, before Tegan Cunningham finally put Melbourne on the board with the first goal of the night.
Kate Hore missed a couple of shots, Shelley Scott had a set shot that skewed wayward horribly and Aliesha Newman missed in the opening couple minutes of the contest. If two or three of those were converted, then it would've been a much different result to the contest. As it is often said, bad kicking is bad football, and usually sides that don't make the most of their opportunities, often suffer for it.
This happened in the second quarter as the Western Bulldogs picked it up a notch and responded beautifully with four straight goals from limited inside 50 entries. Katie Brennan got the Bulldogs' first via free kick in the opening minute of the second term. The scores then tied up not too long afterwards, when Naomi Ferres received a free kick and then a fifty metre penalty which led to hear first career goal.
The Demons got one back through Karen Paxman who had a first half for the ages, but the Dogs again responded with back-to-back goals from Aisling Utri – who put up a contender for mark of the year – and Aisling McCarthy who converted a nice shot on goal on the run to take a one-goal lead into half time in what was a remarkable turnaround. The Dogs' lead extended to a two-goal margin following a cool conversion from Kirsten McLeod.
But it was time for the Demons to respond after being comprehensively beaten in the second quarter. Maddie Gay made amends for coughing up the 50 metre penalty in the second term with a goal. The Bulldogs had their opportunities to keep the Dees at bay, but could only register two behinds from it. Brooke Lochland's shot on goal looked like it cleared the pack from the opposite pocket where I was sitting, but the replays will show that was indeed touched.
Melbourne made them pay for it on the other end with a very nice shot on goal through Eden Zanker. The woman on the mark was about 35 metres out, situated on a forward pocket. Zanker made it look so easy, slotting it through the big sticks. She's already a ripper of a player – it's going to be scary to see her down the line in five years. Her goal brought Melbourne to a point by the final break.
The Dogs again had an answer for Zanker's goal and that came through Monique Conti who shook off a defender and threw it on her boot from close range to bump the margin out to seven points. But it's a bit of a similar story to last week's loss to Fremantle, whilst showing lots of promise, they fell away late as Melbourne continued to press to get the lead back.
After a couple of misses, they finally got a chance with Tegan Cunningham with a couple of minutes left in the match. With ice-cold composure, she strikes it through as straight as an arrow from 30 metres out to give them back the lead. From there, the Bulldogs gave it one last effort, but the Demons were able to run out the clock and keep their dreams of playing finals alive.
Leading The Way
It was another superb performance from Monique Conti as she continues this rich vein of form late in the season, recording 20 disposals, seven tackles, five marks and kicking an important goal in the last quarter – yet again, in the thick of everything. Ellie Blackburn (22 disposals, four marks and three tackles) had one of her better games this season, whilst Kirsty Lamb (15 disposals and 10 tackles) also had a strong performance.
Libby Birch had one of her better games in defence this year. Initially starting as a shut-down role on Aliesha Newman, Newman had her well beat on pace, but as the game went along, she was able to fly in and take a few intercept marks. She finished with 13 touches and seven marks in a strong effort. Hannah Scott (18 disposals, 16 of them kicks) was also busy off half-back and provided a lot of run and carry.
Aisling Utri has been unquestionably the Bulldogs' most improved player for mine this year. I feel like she finds her way on here every week. Despite only nine touches, I thought she was another that was all over the ground. She took a great mark in the goal-square, worked hard defensively and presented an option forward of centre.
The Opposition
Karen Paxman started the game like a house on fire. Western Bulldogs' coach Paul Groves said post game that she had around 16 disposals midway through the second quarter. She was a lot quieter in the second half, but still finished with 24 disposals, seven tackles and four marks to go along with one goal. Co-captain Elise O'Dea was another that was everywhere, recording 21 disposals and eight tackles in a fantastic performance.
I would like to highlight the efforts of Kate Hore and Aliesha Newman up forward. Both provided constant headaches for the Bulldogs' defence with their constant pressure. Hore had a moment in the first quarter where she ran down Tiarna Ernst from behind. Newman did something similar in the third quarter, running down Hannah Scott. Both were enormous tackles in the context in the game and perhaps they should've been rewarded with goals. Nonetheless, I thought both were fantastic up forward.
Lauren Pearce (31 hitouts, 12 disposals and two tackles) was instrumental in the ruck and easily had the better of Kim Rennie all throughout the night. Tegan Cunningham was a real imposing presence up forward with her two goals and three marks and realistcally, menaced the defenders all night long. Maddie Gay (13 disposals, one goal and five tackles) also was strong playing across half-forward and the middle.
Next Week
Last game of the home and away season will see the Western Bulldogs host Carlton in the second-ever pride game. Having watched Carlton take care of Brisbane at Ikon Park over the weekend and assume the top of conference B. With this loss now confirming that the Bulldogs will finish last in conference A, it's going to be interesting to see how Carlton respond to their first visit to Whitten Oval 12 months ago, where they became a part of history for the wrong reasons.