Adelaide keep AFLW season alive with thrilling win over Fremantle after courageous performance from Erin Phillips

ADELAIDE remains in the hunt to make the AFLW Grand Final and achieve back-to-back premierships after a thrilling win over Fremantle in Darwin that was led by a courageous performance from Erin Phillips and standout effort from Chelsea Randall.

Erin Phillips is still battling injury but she bravely continues to play and star for the Crows.

EVEN on one leg, Erin Phillips proved a difference maker.

The AFLW’s best player — hobbled by a right quad injury all season — struggled to move out of the goalsquare in Darwin on Friday night.

But her influence still proved dramatic as inaugural premier Adelaide kept its hopes of winning consecutive premierships alive with a thrilling four-point win against Fremantle at TIO Stadium.

MATCH CENTRE: ALL THE STATS FROM ADELAIDE’S WIN OVER FREMANTLE

AFLW COMPLAINT: CROW A VICTIM OF ‘LEWD PLAY’

The hard-fought win propelled the Crows into second spot, although the three teams ahead of them on the ladder at the start of the second-last round — the Western Bulldogs, Brisbane and Melbourne — have yet to play this week.

Only the top two teams advance to the Grand Final.

League best and fairest Phillips — a gun midfielder — spent most of the night in the goalsquare because of her strained thigh, which was heavily bandaged.

Erin Phillips is still battling injury but she bravely continues to play and star for the Crows.

But when the ball was in her area she was the most damaging player on the ground.

Former basketball star Phillips kicked three of Adelaide’s six goals and dished one out to teammate Sarah Perkins for last year’s leading goalkicker’s first major of the year.

Playing for their season, the Crows led for most of the match but were briefly headed in the third quarter and had to hold off the fast-finishing Dockers at the death.

The final siren sounded with the ball in Fremantle’s forward half.

“It was a tough battle between two great teams and it could have gone either way,’’ said Phillips, who sat out the second half of Adelaide’s win against Carlton last weekend because of quad soreness and was forced to kick on her left leg at times on Friday night.

“They came out at halftime and really put it to us but credit to our girls for sticking with it and finding a way to win.

“The league is just unbelievably close and if we can hang in there anything can happen.’’

The victory was Adelaide’s first in Darwin. — the team’s second home because of its partnership with AFL Northern Territory — and its third of the season.

Adelaide co-captain Chelsea Randall had a big last quarter.

It has one draw and two losses.

The win came despite the Dockers having 46 more disposals.

With the match played in hot and humid conditions which saw the AFLW heat policy implemented, Adelaide’s team featured four players who were drafted from the NT — Angela Foley, Sophie Armitstead, Stevie-Lee Thompson and Jasmyn Hewett.

Schoolteacher Foley — the first Crow drafted from Darwin — was named acting captain for the night and starred against the Dockers in front of many of the students she teaches.

Defender Sarah Allan also was a standout for Adelaide, while Chelsea Randall and Courtney Cramey were strong and courageous in the back half.

Dana Hooker, Kara Donnellan and Ebony Antonio were best for the Dockers.

Adelaide’s final home-and-away-round game is against Collingwood in Melbourne next Sunday.

ADELAIDE 3.0 4.0 5.1 6.4 (40)

FREMANTLE 1.2 2.4 4.6 5.6 (36)

GOALS: Adelaide: Phillips 3, Rajcic, Perkins, Sedunary

Fremantle: Hooker 2, Filocamo, Atkins, Antonio

BEST: Adelaide: Phillips, Foley, Allan, Randall, Cramey

Fremantle: Hooker, Donnellan, Antonio, Miller, Filocamo

INJURIES: Adelaide: Marinoff (cut head)

CROWD: 2159 at TIO Stadium, Darwin

Originally published as Adelaide keep AFLW season alive with thrilling win over Fremantle after courageous performance from Erin Phillips