Round 5 – Melbourne Vs West Coast Eagles

Liam Chambers

Sunday’s win was a great result for Melbourne. It was a hugely important game in the highly contested Conference B. A loss would have severely hurt our chances of qualifying for the finals in April. Honourable mention goes to Karen Paxman who has been a huge inspiration in driving the Dees’ success this season.

The Eagles came out firing but Melbourne took control early on thanks to a free kick awarded to debutant Sarah Perkins. By the way welcome to the Dees Sarah. We were on the receiving end of some of her brilliant goals in the first two seasons of the AFLW, so it’s nice to have her on our side now. Welcome also to Brenna Tarrant. Perkins perfectly placed kick to Eden Zanker was marked and dispatched for Melbourne’s first goal.

As usual the breeze played a big part at Casey Fields. Melbourne had the advantage in the first term but struggled to make the most of it. Despite dominating inside 50, the Dees were unable to make West Coast pay until Sinead Goldrick crashed through the Eagles’ defence and hand balled the sherrin to compatriot Niamh McEvoy. McEoy ran on to kick Melbourne’s second with two minutes to go in the term.

West Coast knew they got off lightly in the first quarter and started the second determined to take advantage of wind which now favoured their side. That determination paid off when Maddy Collier’s running kick from forty five metres hit the ground in front of goal and bounced over nicely to give the Eagles their first score.

After that Melbourne was able to hold off their opponents but struggled to extend their lead. That was until Shelley Scott marked near the Eagles’ inside 50 and similar to last week kicked it to Jacqui Parry who was uncontested. Parry passed to Kate Hore who passed to Sarah Lampard who kicked the Dees’ third for the match. Melbourne went into the half time break with an eleven point advantage.

The Dees were nicely settled in the drivers seat at the start of the second half. Within a minute, Melbourne had cemented their advantage when a well placed kick from Kate Hore gave them their fourth goal. After that, the major scores started piling up with Zanker getting her second from a free kick in front of goal. Melbourne then applied relentless pressure to the Eagles’ defence which paid off when Shelley Scott’s set shot launched from thirty metres out ended in a perfect goal.

Chantel Emonson got her first when a well placed kick from Tyla Hanks found her unmarked about twenty five metres to the right of the Dees goal. Finally, Tegan Cunningham got her second for the season with a wind assisted kick from forty metres out. Cunningham’s game has been improving recently and looks promising coming into the latter part of the competition.

Melbourne started the last term with a forty four point advantage but were determined to build on the superior percentage count. Tyla Hanks had a chance to score her first major but unfortunately put it wide. Once Hanks gets her goal scoring to match the other aspects of her game, she will be unstoppable. Aliesha Newman also had a chance to goal tally several minutes later but sadly put it through for a minor score.

With three minutes to go, Sarah Perkins kicked a beauty which was disallowed as the Umpire had awarded a free kick for high contact on Jacqui Parry.
Parry made sure of the goal though with the ensuing set shot. In the dying seconds of the game, Lily Mithen dived to mark the ball twenty metres in front of goal. Her kick was unfortunately touched and rushed behind for a point.

The drama wasn’t over yet as a Maddy Gay’s kick from the edge of inside 50 was again marked by Mithen. This time Lily opted to kick wide to her team mates and the ball fell into the waiting arms of Sarah Perkins. Having being denied a couple of minutes prior, it seemed like poetic justice that Perkins should get a second chance right on the siren. She didn’t disappoint. With a perfect kick from thirty five metres out and against the wind, she iced the cake with Melbourne’s tenth goal of the afternoon.

This week is arguably (I would say definitely) the Dees’ most important game of this campaign. If we beat Carlton, we will have gone a long way in securing a spot in the top two. As we play competition favourites Fremantle in Perth in Round 7, we cannot afford a lost in Alice Springs. We are well capable of beating Carlton as we are even with them on points but they will be just as determined to get the win on Saturday night.

Go the Fantastic Dees!!!