AFLW Round 3 – Fremantle v Melbourne: Dockers stun Dees

Fremantle vs Melbourne
6:35pm AEDT 18th February 2018
Fremantle Oval, Perth

After watching other results from the weekend, I was a little bit nervous on Sunday waiting for the Dees vs Freo match to start. Having watched the other two previously undefeated teams been beaten in matches earlier in the weekend, I was a little bit nervous that a similar fate awaited my Dees.

 

Early in the match, the Dees were doing all the attacking. Melbourne managed to get eight inside 50s in the first eight minutes of the quarter, but they weren’t getting many scoring shots in, which was frustrating for fans to watch. Teagan Cunningham did kick a goal early, but that was the only one for the quarter. The Dees kicked one goal five in the first, which was annoying but it was pleasing to see that they were dominating possession. The ball did not go into Fremantle’s forward 50 once for the entire quarter.

 

The second quarter started nothing like the first. Fremantle had the majority of the possession and were able to kick a goal early in the term through Emily Maguire. The pre-game nerves that were starting to disappear in the first term were starting to return. I found myself screaming at my phone in frustration. This was not the standard I had come to know and love from the Dees. The Dockers were able to get another goal late from Ebony Antonio and took the lead, which didn’t help my nerves one bit. At halftime I felt a combination.

 

An early goal to Fremantle at the start of the third term only increased my nerves. Was I about to see Melbourne’s first loss for the year? Where did the Melbourne from last week go?

 

A behind from Teagan Cunningham didn’t help the nerves, the Dees were still down by 12 points and were in desperate need of some goals. They finally managed to get a goal through Aleisha Newman and then another one minutes later through Cunningham and suddenly the scores were tied and hope had been restored.

 

Then a player went down in the centre of the ground, who was later identified at Cat Phillips, I held my breath for a minute. I couldn’t help but think the worst and just prayed it wasn’t another ACL injury. Thankfully the broadcast showed her get up and be able to hobble off the ground. When it was later said that it may just be an ankle injury, my fears eased even more. The Dees were able to get a very handy goal through Karen Paxman in the last minute of the term to take a one goal lead into the final change.

 

Early in the final term the Dees had the majority of possession and time in their forward 50, but then out of nowhere the Dockers were able to streak out of defensive 50 and get a goal. All of a sudden the scores were tied and my thoughts changed from are the Dees going to suffer their first loss? to geez, am I about to see Melbourne’s first draw in it’s AFLW history?

 

The Dockers got another goal through Emily Maguire and my nerves rose and as the seconds ticked down the continued to build. As the final siren went, a mixture of anger, frustration and sadness came over me. After the performance they showed last week, this was a few strings below what I know the Dees can produce. They certainly have plenty to work on this week at training and fingers crossed they can bounce back against Collingwood next week.

 

From a Melbourne perspective, there were two players in particular that stood out for me. They may not have been the best on the ground, but they still made a huge impact on the game. They were Katherine Smith and Emma Humphries.

 

Humphries had a quiet opening two rounds, but she stepped up a gear. She was in everything and was a key part of the Dees midfield. For quite sometime I’ve been saying that Katherine Smith is quite underrated. Her junior career has been much talked about, but since she got drafted she’s gone a bit under the radar. She was a key cog in the Dees defence today and was a strong presence across half back.

 

Fremantle      0.0   2.0   4.0   6.0 (36)
Melbourne     1.5   1.5   4.6   4.7 (31)

GOALS
Fremantle: McGuire 2, Antonio, Lavell, Webb, Caulfield
Melbourne: Cunningham 2, Newman, Paxman

Umpires: Howorth, Johansen, Heffernan

Crowd: 3,125

 

Comments

  1. Thanks Alyce, like you I was glued to my small telephone screen watching the game. The Dees looked spent by 3 quarter time. The Dockers just kept on. McGuire’s second goal was a ripper even though it felt like a knife to my Dees (just for AFLW) heart. I did like how the umps put away their whistles in the Last letting the teams do the hard work. You reckon the Dees will be there come the GF?

    Cheers

  2. Yvette Wroby says

    It was a gripping contest and I understanding your nervousness. Melbourne’s misses on goal were the problem .

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