Round 4 – Melbourne Vs North Melbourne

Liam Chambers

As expected, the Roos started strongly. Melbourne defended well but couldn’t prevent Mo Hope’s great effort form 40 metres out. The Dees rallied however with strong displays from Karen Paxman and Lily Mithen helping to apply some great forward pressure on the opposition.

The Dees were rewarded with Cat Phillip’s turn and kick resulting in Melbourne’s first goal. Again, their handball game has been pivotal in getting into scoring positions, as well as out of trouble on occasions. North Melbourne again piled on the pressure at the end of the quarter. A misjudged kick by Lauren Pearce to Paxman was fumbled before Paxman recovered to handball The Dees out of danger, potentially avoiding a last minute goal to the Roos.

North Melbourne scored a lucky goal in the first minute of of the second quarter when a wayward kick from Mo Hope was marked by Emma King. Then within another minute, King got a second after being awarded a free kick against Harriet Cordner just in front of goal. A dubious decision in my mind.

The Dees looked in trouble at 6-19 down. Then Maddi Gay snapped what looked like a certain goal but which was unfortunately touched and only one point awarded. All the luck seemed to going in the Roos’ direction. On the plus side the Dees were marking well with O’Dea & Cunningham making some nice grabs.

The Dees starting applying more pressure and Cunningham converted from a one handed mark to pull one back. Then the Dees were accused of holding Sophie Abbatangelo (another dodgy call). The free kick resulting in a goal for the Roos. When Paxman’s kick was touched on the line, you had the feeling that this was not going to be Melbourne’s day. One of the stars of the half was Lily Mithen, having a great game on either side of the field.

The Dees started the second half well. Nice displays of handball passing and defending. Cat Phillips having a good run. The highlight of the game though came when Aliesha Newman got the ball after good spell of play by Melbourne. Newman ran and bounced the ball nicely before kicking at the open goal approx. 30 metres out.

The ball bounce favourably between the uprights with Aliesha running hard just in case it didn’t make it. Then Maddi Gay handballed a pass to Tyla Hanks who took the shot on the outside of her boot to slot home a perfect goal. The Dees were in front for the first time in the game and now the Roos knew that they were in a game of footy.

Mo Hope got one back with a kick from 45 metres out to again take the lead. However Melbourne went into the last quarter 28-31 behind but with a renewed sense of purpose.

The Dees had the best start they could hope in the final quarter with Newman getting her second goal from a set shot. Unfortunately Emma King got her third goal and Melbourne struggled to regain the momentum in a very tight quarter of football. They defended well but just couldn’t convert their chances and North Melbourne were the victors at 34-38.

Round 5 against GWS should be a challenge but I’m confident we can win in Sydney. Let’s hope we see a good crowd of Melbourne supporters on the day.

On a final note I think Daisy Pearce is putting her organisational skills to good use with her latest recruits.