World Footy News

Melbourne were dominant at Casey Fields this afternoon with a percentage boosting win over the reigning premiers Adelaide in front of 3,800 footy fans. The Dees were all over the Crows who were not able to put a halt to the Dees immense pressure.

It did not start well at all for the Crows, because before the siren even sounded for the match to begin there banner fell apart on one end with the post falling off on the right due to the strong breeze and the crowd could not believe it. This trend unfortunately continued for the Crows who were unable to get on top of a Demons team that was exceptional and played top notch football.

 Image Source: Twitter @melbournefc

Captain Daisy Pearce won the toss to loud cheers and the delight of her team's supporters.

The first quarter was very tight with only a point separating both sides on the scoreboard at quarter time. Aleisha Newman from the Dees kicked a beauty of a running goal from outside 40 from the outside of her boot after she took on the Crows defender. It was great to see Newman take the game on with her speed and her goal is most likely in running for one of the goals of the year.

The Crows had a few inside 50s, but the Dees defensive half held up well with their marking in the first term. In the first the Dees had a lot of the ball but let themselves down when they were near their forward half, as they were wasteful with their disposal and struggled to get it past their attacking 50. Abbey Holmes slotted through the Crow's first goal of the first quarter with about three and half minutes left on the clock, after the Dees made a mess off it in their backline.

In the second term the Dees were able to kick away from the Crows with four goals into the breeze as they lifted their run, intensity and pressure in all areas of the match. Their footy was impressive to watch, as their skills with and without the ball were exceptional. They had answers for everything the Crows threw at them.

The Dees scored their first goal of the second quarter from a team effort after Daisy Pearce kicked forward to Tegan Cunningham who kicked to Shelley Scott. Scott took the football and ran towards the goal square and kicked an easy goal just metres out.  Richelle Cranston kicked another easy goal for Melbourne from the goal square and team mate Alyssa Mifsud set up another team goal for the Dees as she put two great efforts on to ensure her team scored a major when Lauren Pearce marked in the goal square.

The Crows only goal of the second came about halfway through the quarter after the Dees gave away a free kick. Jasmyn Hewitt from the Crows was the recipient of the free kick and she slotted truly from 60m out. Tegan Cunningham for the Dees marked it 20m out and kicked a goal on a slight angle and Melbourne went into halftime with a 20 point advantage over the reigning premiers.

The Dees started the third quarter as they ended the second with immense pressure and intensity. This paid off for them, because Mel Hickey kicked a nice running goal from outside 50 after a clean pick up. The Crows had no answers for the Dees. This match was very much one sided due to the Crows unable to match the Dees ferocity and pressure all over the ground. The Dees skills were top notch and they had a lot of long nice quick kicks forward, which put the Crows defenders under immense pressure.

In the last few minutes of the third term the contest tightened up with neither team able to break clear with possession with stoppage after stoppage. The Crows tried everything to put a halt to some of the Dees dominance. Fortunately for the Crows they were finally rewarded for all their hard work, as Ruth Wallace kicked truly for Adelaide's only goal for the quarter. The Demons responded with a quick reply after a quick kick inside attacking 50 and Tegan Cunningham scored from the goal square. At the end of the third, Melbourne were up by 28 points.

In the final stanza, the Dees were only able to trouble the scorers with one goal despite all the play and Newman the youngster was the one who slotted through the goal. The Crows kicked an easy running goal from the goal square via Jenna McCormick.

This quarter the football was mainly in the Dees attacking half of the ground, but their kicking in front of the big sticks let them down with four behinds. Fortunately they did not have to worry too much about their wayward kicking as they already had a match winning lead on the scoreboard.

The Dees won by 32 points at their home at Casey Fields over a Crows outfit that was outclassed from the second term till the final siren. As a result they remain undefeated and the Crows remain winless in season number two of the AFLW and their hopes of winning back to back premierships are slowly drying up.

Karen Paxman was everywhere for Melbourne and this was amazing, as she came off the ground early with a back spasm from last week's match against the Giants. Paxman finished with 21 disposals and Ebony Marinoff tried hard for her Crows all afternoon and ended the match with with 18 possessions. Cunningham and Newman were both lively in the forward line for the Dees with 2 goals each. The Crows had no multiple goal kickers.

MELBOURNE  1.1  5.2  7.4  8.8 (56)
ADELAIDE      1.0  2.0  3.0  4.0 (24)

GOALS
Melbourne: Cunningham 2, Newman 2, Scott, L.Pearce, Hickey, Cranston
Adelaide: Holmes, Hewett, Wallace, McCormick 

BEST
Melbourne: Paxman, O'Dea, Jakobsson, Hore, Mithen, D.Pearce,
Adelaide: Marinoff, Cox, Randall, Varnhagen, Cox 

Umpires: Gibson, McGinness, Heffernan

Official crowd: 3800 at Casey Fields