THE DAISY CHAIN by Georgina on the Outer

In a must win match against Carlton Light (the colours worn by their AFLW opponents), Daisy Pearce with a great 29 disposal game, led her team to a victory  which has kept the Demons final hopes alive.  

Similarly, the result dropped the early season favourite out of contention. The Demons must keep winning to stay in the hunt, but the two competition leaders in Adelaide and Brisbane play each other in a fortnight, when one must lose and that could give Melbourne the chance to break into the top two.

A scrambly (is that a word?) first quarter saw each team register a solitary behind, although Melbourne played with more fluency one it got the ball outside. However, unforced errors continued to give the Blues opportunities and on a number of occasions left the Demons well exposed.  

In the second quarter, Melbourne came out firing as the Daisy chain started in motion. All around her we had players starting to blossom and Cat Phillips started to give Daisy first use of the ball and the goals came. While the Light Blues also managed a couple of goals these were both from dubious free kicks and fifty metre penalties.  The AFLW seriously has to look at the fifty metre penalty for the competition, as it is simply too harsh, given that the majority of players at the moment are barely capable of kicking anything near that distance.

Melbourne was moving the ball quickly by handball and benefitting from the clearer air after the first quarter congestion. Carlton on the other hand was almost solely dependant upon Vescio who continued to get the ball out and up forward. 

The third quarter saw a more aggressive Melbourne with tackling the highlight. It shut the Light Blues down, as they could only manage two points in 20 minutes while Melbourne scored 2 goals 4 behinds. The Demon forwards were still found lacking when needed in contests - they were often simply not there and it was up to the mids and flankers to do the hard lifting. 

Surely a three goal lead when the Light Blues had only scored two in ¾ of footy would be enough, but the Demons took the foot off the accelerator and fell asleep in the last. Suddenly, they found the scores level at the nine minute mark and from then on it became a great physical contest. This was the challenge and Daisy, Alyssa Mifsud, Elise O’Dea and Richelle Cranston all stood up to it do well. 

There was one more goal for the game - to Cranston - and that was enough to put the team in front and eventually win the game.  With plenty of time remaining, others were asked to stop the furious charge from Carlton, and Brooke Patterson took a particularly telling mark in the backline to deny them their final opportunity and turn them into an even lighter shade of pale.
 
Melbourne 0.1.1  3.2.20 5.6.36 6.6.42 

Carlton 0.1.1 2.3.15 2.5.17 5.6.36

Goals

Melbourne Mifsud 2 Berry Cranston O'Dea Scott

Carlton Ayre 2 Jackobsson Sheirlaw Vescio

Best

Melbourne Pearce O'Dea Paxman Mithen Mifsud

Carlton Hosking Exon Vescio Ayre

Injuries 

Melbourne Nil

Carlton Nil

Umpires  Patrick Burns Ben Cheever Brodie Rayner

Crowd 3,965 at Casey Fields, Cranbourne