Round 9 – Melbourne V Richmond

Demons Keep On Trucking

Liam Chambers

Momentum swings back and forth

After the shock sixty five point loss to Essendon in Round 5, the Dees had since won three in a row to keep their faint finals hopes alive. Richmond by contrast, had only suffered two losses; one to league leaders North Melbourne. Victory against another top five side would definitely boost our chances.

The Tigers looked impressive going forward and it seemed certain to score first, which they did almost by accidence. Eilish Sheerin scooped up the ground ball, then snapped around the corner. The sherrin initially bounced about 15m out, then continued to bounce inside the square and eventually crossed the line.

After the centre bounce, Richmond was straight back inside 50. They had a couple of chances to add to their goal tally but were unable find the target.

Then Melbourne found a pathway up the ground where the quick thinking Alyssa Bannan picked up the stationery ball and immediately snapped it through the middle.

The Dees had back to back majors when Georgia Gall took a diving mark in the pocket. Always calm under pressure, the key forward made the difficult shot look easy, giving her side their second of the quarter.

The momentum had now swung Melbourne’s way and they were applying some serious pressure to the Tigers’ defence. Just before quarter time however, the momentum went back Richmond’s way when Ellie McKenzie sprinted from the centre of the ground to inside 50, where she launched goalward and slotted the Tigers’ second.

But wait, there’s more. With under six seconds on the clock, Alyssa Bannan again picked up the ground ball and kicked her second; this time off the outside of her boot to give Melbourne back the lead.

Dees edge ahead

After the siren, the Tigers went straight into attack mode. Melbourne weathered the initial storm and then headed off to their forward 50.

Despite some intense pressure from both sides, it was a low scoring quarter, with only a single point to Richmond with less than five minutes to play.

Then Eden Zanker took a contested mark on the edge of the square and went back to kick the Dees’ fourth of the game.

Tigers throw it all at Melbourne

Melbourne was in a good position at the start of the second half. They were playing well and dealing with the Tigers pressure plus making the most of their chances when they presented.

With just over a minute played, Alyssa Bannan was presented with another scoring opportunity after marking the ball in the pocket. It was a difficult shot from the boundary line but it was a great finish from Bannan and the Dees were seventeen points in front.

From there it was all Richmond with Melbourne making the occasional incursion inside 50. The Tigers couldn’t connect with the goal however and the Dees still held a sixteen point lead at three quarter time.

Exciting high scoring last quarter but Melbourne prevails

Richmond had another high energy start but Melbourne was again equal to the task.

The brilliant Tyla Hanks doesn’t score many goals but the opener of the final term was perfection. Having initiated the transition from the centre to inside 50, she received the ball back and sidestepped her opponents before slotting the ball from 15m out.

The next goal was Alyssa Bannan’s easiest of the afternoon when she was awarded a free kick and had a set shot from point blank range

Melbourne’s last goal was as a result of a play on to advantage when Olivia Purcell picked up the ball and ran on before passing to Georgia Gall in the square. The tall forward then tapped it across the line.

The Tigers didn’t give up though and Caitlin Greiser made the most of her set shot in front of goal to reduce the margin to twenty six points. Incredibly, with just under two minutes remaining, Caitlin Greiser got another goal. This time she grabbed the ball just next to the goal line and tapped it over. Then it was three goals in three minutes when Greiser snapped another from the pocket.

The win made it four in a row for the Dees. Our next game is against Hawthorn, who are second on the ladder.

It will take a great effort from the players, but on current form I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!