Daisy Pearce leads Melbourne to victory over Brisbane that keeps it in grand final hunt
WITH her reputation as one of the top players in the AFLW under threat, Daisy Pearce rose to the occasion to lift Melbourne to a nailbiting six-point win over Brisbane that keeps the Demons’ season alive.
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MELBOURNE survived a late scare to keep its grand final ambitions intact in AFLW with a gusty six-point win over Brisbane.
In control for much of the night at Casey Fields, the Demons only just clung on after Lions star Sabrina Frederick-Traub pushed her opponent out of a ruck contest at the top of the square and put boot to ball to kick her third goal of the game with just 2min 16 sec left on the clock.
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Brisbane controlled the play in its forward half from there but could not get another score on the board as the Demons held on to snap a two-game losing streak.
The victory saw Melbourne close the gap on the second-placed Lions to just a matter of percentage points heading into the final two rounds of the season.
CUTE DEES?
FORMER AFL coach Terry Wallace handed Melbourne a little whack on radio pre-game, saying the side was playing “cute” football.
It might have been a fair reflection on the Demons’ first four rounds but there was nothing “cute” about last night’s performance.
The triumph all came down to work rate, tackling pressure and winning the hard ball.
The Demons set the tone for the night in the opening term as they won the tackle count 24-13, clearances 7-4 and inside-50s 11-3 and, aside from a couple of lapses, kept up the same effort for much of the night.
DAISY REBOUNDS
DAISY Pearce’s reputation as one of the top players in the competition was coming under threat four rounds into the AFLW season.
But after being held to just nine touches by a tight Brittany Bonnici tag against Collingwood the previous week, Pearce returned serve like a true champion.
The Lions largely let of her off the leash and the midfielder made the most of it.
Having entered the game without a goal to her name this season, Pearce booted two majors in the first quarter to get the Demons off to a flyer and had an equal-game high 15 touches by halftime.
She finished with 23 disposals in a best-on-ground performance.
FORWARD WOES
MELBOURNE has arguably the best midfield in the competition but its forward line is still proving a weakness.
Entering Round 5, the Demons had recorded 131 inside-50s — 19 more than any other team — yet had kicked only 22 goals.
The same storyline continued against the Lions, with inaccuracy and poor forward entries proving costly.
Melbourne finished with 33 inside-50s to Brisbane’s 21, but the two sides each kicked four goals.
To be fair, early in the game there was more congestion in the Demons’ forward line than the streets around Cranbourne in peak hour but it is still an area Melbourne will be looking to work on.
Originally published as Daisy Pearce leads Melbourne to victory over Brisbane that keeps it in grand final hunt
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