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| Venue: IKON Park, Carlton. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date: Sunday March 11, 2018 (6.40 pm) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Lost by 35 points | |||||||||||||||||||
| Crowd: 6,300 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: Tayla Harris, Darcy Vescio, Georgia Gee 1. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: Nil | |||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires: Simmonds, Guy, Johansen | |||||||||||||||||||
| Injuries: Attard (hand) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ladder: 8th | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Demons too strong for BluesMelbourne has leapt up to second on NAB AFLW ladder after it beat Carlton by 35 points at Ikon Park on Sunday. Three goals apiece from Elise O’Dea and Tegan Cunningham, and two from Kate Hore, secured victory for the jubilant visitors, who are hitting form at the perfect time. The Demons – who will play off with the Bulldogs next Saturday night for a place in the Grand Final – ran out to a 38-point first-term lead after a record six goals. But the win came at a high cost as veteran defender Melissa Hickey left the field in tears with a knee injury. With ice on the outside (medial) of the left knee, Hickey joined in the three-quarter time huddle, allaying initial fears of an ACL injury, but Melbourne will wait on scans. The Demons kicked three goals in the first five minutes but were tamed thereafter in the race for percentage. "I have not seen us play a better quarter of football than that opening term," said Melbourne coach Mick Stinear. "In terms of their ability to connect with each other, aggression, composure. We were ferocious around the footy but we kept clear heads. "There will be a few sore bodies out there but the thought of playing in what is essentially a preliminary Grand Final will get them up pretty quickly." The Carlton game-plan failed to worry Melbourne as the Demons flooded the midfield from the first bounce and kept the hosts pinned inside their defensive 50 for the first quarter. "We clearly had some issues in that first quarter around our intensity," said Carlton coach Damien Keeping. "We have demonstrated that we are able to be effective. We’ll take the learning opportunities and travel to Fremantle as a united group. We have one more game to stand for something as a group. "Winning next week will be our sole focus. Anything behind that we will worry about afterwards." The Blues' form continued to stutter after their first two wins of the season as the Melbourne midfield trio of Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce and Elise O’Dea proved too strong. Georgia Gee, 18, kicked her first League goal to add to majors from Darcy Vescio and Tayla Harris, but it was all over after the first quarter. - Tom Pountney for AFL.com.au
Team
| B: | 5 Kate Gillespie-Jones | 6 Gabrielle Pound | 23 Bridie Kennedy |
| HB: | 8 Maddison Gay | 31 Danielle Hardiman | 18 Tilly Lucas-Rodd |
| C: | 3 Darcy Vescio | ||
| HF: | 21 Nicola Stevens | 22 Tayla Harris | 10 Sarah Hosking |
| F: | 9 Kerryn Harrington | 30 Alison Downie | 4 Madeline Keryk |
| Ruck: | 16 Breann Moody | 11 Jessica Hosking | 26 Shae Audley |
| Interchange: | 14 Laura Attard | 19 Georgia Gee | 15 Tiahna Cochrane |
| 2 Katie Loynes | 35 Sophie Li | ||
| Coach: | Damien Keeping | ||
| Emg: | 32 Natalie Plane | 7 Sarah Last |
In: Tiahna Cochrane (rookie), Laura Attard, Madeline Keryk, Jessica Hosking
Out: Lauren Brazzale (injured), Courtney Webb (rested), Lauren Arnell (concussion), Reni Hicks (rested)
Milestones
AFLW Debut and Only Game: Tiahna CochraneFirst Goal: Georgia Gee
Last Game: Laura Attard, Madeline Keryk (Carlton)
AFLW Coaches Votes
10 - E. O'Dea (Melb.)7 - L. Pearce (Melb.)
6 - S. Scott (Melb.)
5 - T. Cunningham (Melb.)
2 - K. Hore (Melb.)