Geelong books place in preliminary final following thrilling victory over Melbourne
Geelong has held its nerve under almighty pressure to deny a fast-finishing Melbourne in one of the greatest ever AFLW games. Recap the thrilling finish.
Geelong has held its nerve under almighty pressure to deny a fast-finishing Melbourne by five points and hand the Demons a stunning straight sets finals exit in one of the greatest ever AFLW games.
Melbourne looked resigned to a third consecutive loss for the first time in its history after managing only one goal in three quarters where Geelong looked the vastly superior side at Ikon Park.
But the desperate reigning premiers rediscovered their attacking spark in the final term to roar back into the contest with five goals, and would have forced the match into extra-time had a quick shot at goal from a stoppage by ruck Lauren Pearce not missed slightly to the left with 20 seconds remaining.
Melbourne re-entered its forward 50 after forcing a turnover at half-forward from the Geelong kick-in, but the siren sounded before Shelley Heath’s kick could meet captain Kate Hore.
The Cats raced away from a flat-footed Melbourne side early through two goals to Amy McDonald, who had not kicked multiple goals at all in her career but delivered the two in the opening quarter.
After playing third wheel to McDonald and Georgie Prespakis in the win over the Bombers, Nina Morrison was enormous for Geelong with a game-high 29 disposals and 10 clearances as the Demons struggled to win enough inside ball to service their forwards.
Melbourne would have gone for an eighth quarter with just a single goal if not for a Maddi Gay long bomb after the halftime siren, which cut the margin to 27 points at halftime.
None of the Demons’ high-profile forwards could get themselves into the contest until Eden Zanker ignited in the final term with three goals, but the fix to their scoring woes came too late.
Geelong will travel to Brisbane to face the Lions at Brighton Homes Arena on Saturday night, with North Melbourne to host Adelaide at Ikon Park on Sunday afternoon.
FORMER DEMONS BITE BACK
There wasn’t much Melbourne could have done to prevent Shelley Scott’s departure to be closer to home, but the experienced forward hurt her former side with her best performance of the season on Sunday.
Scott kicked a goal and was involved in six other scores as she linked beautifully with fellow former Demon Jackie Parry in the Cats’ forward half.
The Demons could have convinced Parry to stay if they wanted, but the 27-year-old made her old club pay dearly with a goal and three goal assists in the biggest game of her career.
TWIN TOWERS LOCK HORNS
Melbourne key defender Tahlia Gillard’s resilient performance against Geelong goalkicker Aishling Moloney may have been the only thing which kept the Demons in the contest heading into the final quarter.
Gillard had only once been beaten in 38 contested one-on-one battles heading into the semi-final, but had her hands full with the speedy Irishwoman and was fortunate Moloney dropped marks looking into the sun in the first quarter.
The move of the 190cm Gillard into the ruck in the final term may have kickstarted Melbourne’s comeback, but it also helped free Moloney up for a vital final quarter goal to extend the Cats’ lead back to 18 points, which ultimately proved to be the matchwinning goal.
DEMONS 0.2, 1.4, 1.7, 6.9 (45)
CATS 2.4, 4.5, 6.7, 7.8 (50)
BOURKE’S BEST Demons: Gay, West, Zanker, Gillard, Purcell, Hanks. Cats: Morrison, A McDonald, Webster, M McDonald, Parry, Prespakis.
GOALS Demons: Zanker 3, Gay, Hanks, A Mackin. Cats: A McDonald 2, Parry, Darby, Crockett-Grills, Scott, A Moloney.
INJURIES Demons: nil. Cats: nil.
UMPIRES Adams, Scott, Talbot
CROWD 5,057 at Ikon Park
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