Round 4 – Fremantle v Melbourne

Liam Chambers

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

Melbourne have the best of the opening quarter

It’s never fun heading West to play footy and Freo have handed the Dees two particularly bad defeats in 2024. Time for some payback.

The Dees got off to good start when Kate Hore was awarded a free kick for a high tackle, after some impressive forward pressure. The Captain slotted the goal and Melbourne was on the board.

Hayley Miller redressed the balance when she collected the tapped down ball from a stoppage, then quickly turned and snapped it across the goal line.

The good news for Demon fans was our accuracy in front of goal. Alyssa Bannan took an uncontested mark inside 50, then proceeded to make good on her set shot.

Melbourne was dominating inside 50s and marking cleaner than they have in previous weeks.

It was all going according to plan when Tyla Hanks gathered up the spilled ball after a stoppage, then dribble it goalwards and across the line.

Then with less than a minute left on the clock, Eden Zanker marked the ball from a Lily Mithen kick and went back to slot the 40m set shot.

Fremantle takes the pressure up a couple of notches

The Dees continued on in the same vein after the break, again putting pressure on Freo’s defence.

Georgia Gall had luck on her side when she was awarded a contested mark in the pocket. Her 20m set shot was on target, continuing Melbourne’s accuracy in front of goal.

With a twenty two point advantage, the Dees were in the driver’s seat.

Having put themselves in a dominant position, Melbourne was in danger of letting the Dockers back into the game with some sloppy defending.

As the term proceeded, Fremantle started to take control but were unable to make it count on the scoreboard. Then in the dying seconds, Gabby O’Sullivan was awarded a free kick and went back to take the shot after the siren. Her kick was successful and the hosts were only fourteen points behind at the main break.

Melbourne play themselves into a winning position

The Dees appeared to have started the second half with a goal but the Umpire deemed the ball to have hit the upright. I watched the replay a couple of times but couldn’t see where it touched the post. Isn’t there supposed to be a review?

Melbourne had a couple of other chances but were unable to put them away.

Up the other end, Gabby O’Sullivan kicked her second after being awarded a lucky free kick.

Melbourne was playing well and seeing a lot of the ball but lacked the finishing that typified their opening quarter.

Having said that, when Sinead Goldrick was awarded a free kick and then a 50m penalty, she made sure she found the space between the uprights and the margin was back out to a three goal advantage.

The Dockers storm home

The Dees had played very well for long stretches and were in a very favourable position at the start of the final term.

Although Freo was piling on the pressure, Melbourne was comfortably dealing with the onslaught.

Then with eight minutes to play, Gabby Biedenweg-Webster was awarded a free kick and went back to slot the set shot.

The other Gabby (O’Sullivan) then scored a 40m running kick goal and suddenly it was a six point game.

Another free kick and another successful set shot; this time from Ebony Antonio and the scores were level.

It looked like Melbourne would escape with a draw when Gabby Colvin’s last second tackle on Hayley Miller stopped what was an almost certain goal.

Then disaster struck, with only ten seconds to go. Aisling McCarthy was awarded a free kick. She kicked after the siren and the ball when through for a goal.

It was a disappointment for all involved that we gave up such a promising lead, especially when the game was so important to resetting our season. Still if lessons are learned, then we can continue to build and move on.

Essendon find themselves in a similar position, but they have home advantage and won’t be a walkover.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!