SWITCH OFF by Meggs

Posted September 15Sep 15

Well, that was a shock. The Demons 4-game unbeaten run came to a grinding halt in a tense, scrappy affair at the sunny, windy Alberton Oval, with the Power holding on for a 2-point win.

The Dees had their chances—plenty of them—but couldn't convert when it mattered most.

Port’s tackling pressure rattled the Dees, triggering a fumble frenzy and surprising lack of composure from seasoned players.

Lauren Arnell certainly challenged Mick Stinear in the coach’s box, winning matchups and nullifying Melbourne’s run-and-carry game plan. A solid win from her for sure.

The match

It was a low scoring arm-wrestle from the outset.

Port's pressure was relentless, and the Dees looked switched off—fumbles, missed targets, and a lack of connection up forward.

Port’s Gemma Houghton and Indy Tahau (3 goals) causes headaches, while Ella Boag opened proceedings with the game's first goal.

Demon sharpshooters Zanker, Gall and Bannan all missed gettable first quarter opportunities while Paxy, Hore and Bannan (again) kicked points before finally Captain Kate steadied the ship before half-time with a centre clearance which evolved into a brilliant running goal.

The Dees dominated the possessions stats but were outplayed in tackles (Port 85, Melbourne 69) and clearances.

Port ruck Matilda Scholz was excellent all day and forced Mick Stinear to move Tayla Harris into the ruck as both Lauren Pearce and milestoner GC were well beaten on the day.

Port mids Ash Woodland (20 disposals, 420 metres gained) and Abby Dowrick (19 disposals, 13 tackles, 496 metres gained) set the tone while young gun Shineah Goody was, well, very good.

Melbourne’s midfield struggled to break free with only Hore (27 disposals, 10 tackles, 7 clearances, 3 goals) and Tyla Hanks (27 disposals) getting any clean disposals.

Defensive leader Maeve Chaplin (23 disposals, 635 metres gained) continued her fine season.

Eliza McNamara, Paxy Paxman, Shelley Heath, Eden Zanker and Megan Fitzsimon got their hands on the footy but Port’s contested game kept the Dees on the back foot.

Rising above the caterwauling was our number 10 who scored timely goals and almost single-handedly won us the match. Kate Hore. Clutch. Class. Captain.

A solid fightback from a game-high 23 points but no team song was sung this week.

Match moments

Down 3 points with 1 minute to go, Fitzy had the chance in heavy traffic to snap a winner on her right foot from twenty metres out but missed.

Maybe the left was the go?

And with the clock ticking in the last quarter, we’ll never get back the lost precious seconds when Alberton locals sent a search party to find the footy.

Milestones

Plenty celebrated this week.

Kate Hore now leads the all-time games played for the mighty Demons (83 games) and is the AFLW competition’s all-time leading goal scorer with 91 (adding 3 more goals this week). Hopefully, no nervous nineties.

Tayla Harris played her 75th AFLW match, while Megan Fitzsimon played her 50th game and Georgia Campbell her 25th.

Meggs’ musings

One loss doesn’t define us—but it reminds us how hard this comp is.

Goody was good but Katey was insanely good.

She can’t do it all, others will need to step up. We looked top heavy in the windy conditions.

The rehab bad juju might be breaking — Goldie and Gillard are nearly good to go, and selection pressure is about to get real.

Coaches and Next Week

Mick Stinear said, ‘we weren’t good enough and we left it too late’.

A good crack in the last quarter but couldn’t find our rhythm. Composure and skill execution was down on the day. All credit to Port Adelaide.

Lauren Arnell felt the pressure was the best her team has shown all season. A statement win.

Bold in the contest and learned valuable lessons from being overrun last week against the Eagles.

Next week: West Coast Eagles at Casey Fields, Saturday 1:05pm.