MAIDEN VICTORY by Bewitched

After a week of soul searching after a dramatic fade out in the lightning, thunder and rain at Casey in the AFLW's opening round, the women of Melbourne had a lot to be concerned about at half time at Ikon Park last night. They were down by 19 points and being totally outplayed after recording just one goal in their past four quarters of football and staring into oblivion in a seven game competition that allows only two teams to advance to the grand final.

Moana Hope, the much vaunted Magpie strong lady had wreaked havoc in the early going, setting up her team's first goal and scoring its second before Jessica Anderson's running goal opened the Demons' account but that was the team's only joy as their opponents streamed ahead. 

However, this time there was no storm to blunt Melbourne's style in the second half and instead, the team kept Collingwood scoreless after the main break to record their first AFLW win. 

The move of Mel Hickey onto Hope was a good one. The dangerous Magpie forward was hardly seen as the Demons took over. 

Skipper Daisy Pearce provided lots of run in the back half and Karen Paxman moved the ball forward to  the likes of Cat Phillips, the ultimate Frisbee player, and Alyssa Mifsud and the flood gates opened. Phillips' goal from an impossible angle was a highlight. The team that had been starved of scoring opportunities was now alight and winning in the middle. They scored 4.1 for the term to grab the lead at the final break.

The Magpie fade out continued despite some strong arm tactics which saw a late head high hit on Meg Downie force a delay in play as the Demon was concussed and stretchered off in a neck brace. Coach Mick Stinear later said his player had been cleared of any serious damage but the likely outcome should see the first tribunal sitting in AFLW history. 

The Dees kept on running when play resumed and finally ran out winners 7.2.44 to 5.1.31.

The class of Pearce and Paxman should ensure that Melbourne remains a contender in this competition.  Elise "Junior" O'Dea is a great prospect and kept going all night and Lily Mithen lived up to the family name with a solid contribution. 

All in all, it was a great maiden victory for the women of the Melbourne Football Club who now take on their foundation rivals, the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval on Saturday night. The men's JLT Community Series game will be the curtain raiser to this historic match.

Melbourne 1.0.6  1.0.6 5.1.31 7.2.44

Collingwood 3.1.19 0 4.1.25 4.1.25 4.1.25

Goals

Melbourne Phillips 2 Anderson Jolly Mifsud Paxman Scott

Collingwood Cameron Edwards Grant  Hope

Best

Melbourne Pearce Phillips Paxman O'Dea Mithen

Collingwood D'Arcy Eva Barden Chiocci

Crowd 6,917 at Ikon Park

Sorry - but it was Cat Phillips goal from the impossible angle. She was also on the goal line when she and the two magpies crashed into each other to spill the ball to Mifsud

In "a game of firsts", focussing on last nights game:

1) the most impressive "come from behind win" in AFLW history;

2) the first four goal quarter in AFLW; and

3) the first time this Millennium that the Dees have beaten Collingwood five games in a row (with more to come)!

  On 11/02/2017 at 21:52, #11-TonyAnderson said:

Sorry - but it was Cat Phillips goal from the impossible angle. She was also on the goal line when she and the two magpies crashed into each other to spill the ball to Mifsud

Fixed.

Accuracy in front of goal was a big factor compared with last week's start of four consecutive behinds before our one and only goal.

The ability to string a few goals together cannot be underestimated in building confidence in a team. We had that last night but didn't have it last week. 

Please take Mithen out of the bests.  She was a disgrace.  Every kick hit a Collingwood player lace out on the chest.  Her disposal isn't just poor, it's playing for the opposition.  There is no benefit in having 14 touches if 11 of them are to the advantage of the opposition.

The only disgrace I've come across this weekend is a keyboard warrior with Roman connections! As for Lily Mithen... well played, building on round 1, important to our 'come from behind' win.

The thing I really liked about the win was the game plan. Clearly the club is trying to get the men's amd women's teams to play similar styles, and if the second half reflects what we will see later on, I for one would be delighted: relentless running in open spaces, accurate kicking and handball, and fierce tackling in close. If it stays dry for the rest of the girls' season, I think this team has a real chance. 

The acid test will be this week an against the Dogs: will be an uncompromising contest - one might say the traditional rivals in the women's game.

It is great to see.

Who is going to play on Travis next week ?

Daisy Pearce is a gun !!!

Garland out, Paxman in.

  On 12/02/2017 at 04:44, waynewussell said:

The only disgrace I've come across this weekend is a keyboard warrior with Roman connections! As for Lily Mithen... well played, building on round 1, important to our 'come from behind' win.

I agree, she did play a big part.  She was instrumental in us being behind so we could come back at them. 

Slightly off topic, but Brisbane looked good today.

Tayla Harris was very impressive with her marking and set shots.

I find it baffling that we and Fremantle were considered clear favourites over Brisbane. No one had even played a game yet! 

In any case, the women's footy this round was very entertaining. A bit frustrating at times, but I think the problem is my expectations. Some of these girls haven't even played footy before, let alone had 10 years to practise like the mens.

  On 12/02/2017 at 09:57, Moneider96 said:

I find it baffling that we and Fremantle were considered clear favourites over Brisbane. No one had even played a game yet! 

In any case, the women's footy this round was very entertaining. A bit frustrating at times, but I think the problem is my expectations. Some of these girls haven't even played footy before, let alone had 10 years to practise like the mens.

There was a lot of talk in the lead-up to the season that Fremantle was basically the WA representative side and with Cowan coaching were going to be very strong.  Personally, I didn't think so much of them and thought they'd lost their best mid and forward options before they even started when they let Chelsea Randall and Sabrina Fredericks-Traub get signed by other states. 

I thought the skill level (whilst still not great) significantly improved over last week's effort across all games - the one's I watched anyway.

It's quite refreshing to see games without the constant staging for frees and whining about free kicks (even though we were slaughtered by umpire no. 5).

  On 12/02/2017 at 09:57, Moneider96 said:

I find it baffling that we and Fremantle were considered clear favourites over Brisbane. No one had even played a game yet! 

 

More likely due to the lack of a real form guide pundits went with known personalities like Cowan and Pearce as well as home ground advantage. Just like the dumb asses who vote for politicians because they are media celebrities.

Interesting to see that Harriet Cordner only had a single disposal. She probably received the most press after Daisy before the match.

  On 12/02/2017 at 11:30, RalphiusMaximus said:

There was a lot of talk in the lead-up to the season that Fremantle was basically the WA representative side and with Cowan coaching were going to be very strong.  Personally, I didn't think so much of them and thought they'd lost their best mid and forward options before they even started when they let Chelsea Randall and Sabrina Fredericks-Traub get signed by other states. 

They were decimated by the marquee signings - Randall/Gibson at Adel, SF-T, Swanson/Forth at GWS, King at Collingwood plus losing Bowers to an ACL not long after being chosen as one of their marquees. I'm pretty surprised King was a marquee at Collingwood - there are plenty of Vic players who could have made more of an impact such as Kearney and Paxman. Qld has a pretty reasonable state team (especially their youth girls in recent years) so it's not a huge surprise that they are doing well. They have also recruited well from interstate.