World Footy News

The reigning premiers the Crows were too polished in the end for the Blues when they needed to be in the match, as they won by 35 points at their home ground the Norwood Oval. This match was played with an extremely high intensity and pressure from both teams. The Blues were in the contest for most of the match with their gameplay and it was just their wayward kicking in front of the big sticks that let them down.

Image Source: Twitter @Adelaide_FC

It was a high-pressured game from both teams in the first quarter. The Crows took their chances early in front of goal with two goals to the Blues four behinds, as the Blues kicking in front of goal was wayward and let them down. Sarah Perkins hand passed to Ruth Wallace who snap kicked the goal from 20m out for a nice team goal for the opening goal of the first term. Wallace was on fire for the Crows up forward, as she nailed through her second goal of the match of a snap kick around her body.

The Crows placed the Blues defense under immense pressure in the first quarter and the Blues had a lot of the football too in their forward half but could not capitalize on the scoreboard with majors until late in the quarter. Darcy Vescio was the one who set up the important goal, as she kicked a torpedo towards her forward 50 and Tayla Harris ran onto the football and nailed through an important goal for the Blues with four seconds left in the first quarter. As a result of the goal the Blues were only down by 4 points at quarter time over the Crows in a strong physical start to the match.

The Crows had a strong dominant second quarter, because they outscored the Blues four goals to one despite the high intensity and physicality in the game continuing. However the Crows were able to get on top of Blues as they kicked four consecutive goals. At the start of the second quarter, the Blues via Vescio scored the first goal of the term and took the lead but the Crows responded with a goal of their own as they regained the lead back via Eloise Jones who kicked the goal from 35m out on a slight angle. Jones with a classy finish with a snap kick at goal and she booted through the goal truly. The Crows won the clearance in the centre again and Jasmyn Hewitt slotted through the quick snap kick at goal after she received the handball from Erin Phillips. Jessica Sedunary cleared the football out of the middle and kicked the football to McCormick who marked strongly in the forward 50 and McCormick put through the goal nicely for the Crows. The Crows at the main break held a 23-point advantage over the Blues.

This match continued to be a tough one played by both teams in the third stanza with one stoppage after another and this was reflected on the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter with only one behind being scored for the entire term. Katie Loynes copped a heavy knock to her head and blood streamed rapidly from her head and she ran off to the bench. The Blues were dominant in the third quarter with the majority of the attacking play in their forward half of the ground, but they did not have much fortune when it came to getting some reward for all their effort on the scoreboard as they could only score a behind. Credit to the Blues who kept the Crows scoreless for the entire third quarter. The Crows held a 20-point lead over the Blues at three quarter time.

Early on in the third quarter, Erin Phillips was on the bench being iced and word from the Crows said they were managing her quad that she previously injured. Phillips did not play out the second half of the match.

In the final quarter, the Crows scored the only two goals of the term. There first goal was set up by Perkins who hand passed to Wallace over the top who ran into an open goal and put the nail through the coffin that put an end to the Blues season. The Crows scored their first goal since the second term. Sedunary scored the last goal of the match for the Crows after she marked the football from a forward stoppage and she slotted through the goal nicely between the big sticks. The reigning premiers finals chances are still well and truly alive as they were 35-point victors over a Blues outfit that fought hard till the end, but their wayward kicking in front of goal was what let them down at the final siren. The wayward kicking in front of goal by the Blues is what has stopped them from winning more matches this AFLW season.

GOALS
Adelaide: Wallace 3, Jones 2, McCormick, Hewett, Sedunary
Carlton: Harris, Vescio 

BEST 
Adelaide: Wallace, Randall, Jones, Marinoff, Phillips, Rajcic
Carlton: Loynes, S.Hosking, Harris, Moody, Audley, Gay 

INJURIES 
Adelaide: Phillips (quad), Cramey (hamstring)
Carlton: Nil 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Mirabile, Strybos, Crosby

Official crowd: 5970 at Norwood Oval