Round 3 – Brisbane Vs Melbourne – Lions Lay Down Like Lambs

Liam Chambers

Good result for the Dees. It’s never easy playing away. Brisbane were favourite to win on home soil even though they lost to in-form Fremantle in Round 2. The heat & humidity was also a factor, but you’d never know it by the way Melbourne controlled the game.

Five minutes in & Aliesha Newman kicked the first goal after one of her signatory runs. The Dees were dominating. Hanks was displaying her superior passing skills and showing great vision. A few minutes later and Newman had her second.

Overall Melbourne was applying tremendous pressure on the Lions and should have been further ahead at quarter time. Brisbane scored courtesy of Tawhaq-Wardlow.

The second quarter was the best display by Melbourne so far this season. Goals by Kat Smith, Paxman (again good pass from Hanks) & Eden Zanker showed the diversity of talent in the Dee’s side.

Harriet Cordner did a great job of shutting down Sabrina Frederick Traub. Bianca Jacobson scored a lovely goal after some intense pressure from Melbourne which saw them forty points ahead at the end of the first half.

Melbourne didn’t let up in the third quarter and tackled well, especially Kat Smith. Their use of the hand ball was at times superb and pressurized the Lions into making a lot of errors. The intercept marking was also noteworthy. Unfortunately for all the Dees superior play, Brisbane were getting themselves into potential scoring positions.

Finally, Nat Exon put one between the uprights for the Lions, their first goal since late in quarter one. Then Bianca Jacobson got her second & Melbourne went into the last quarter leading by thirty-eight points.

The last quarter was again a low scoring affair. There were some nice touches, but Brisbane never looked like launching a major comeback. A highlight for Melbourne was the mark and subsequent goal from Tegan Cunningham. Tegan looked like she lacked confidence early on. The Dees won by thirty-nine points after Kate McCarthy from Brisbane scored a deserved goal after the siren.

All in all, a great performance by Melbourne and they have now stamped their mark on the competition after three good games. The loss to Fremantle was unlucky but the girls also learned a lot from that disappointment.

Their biggest test will be in Round 4 when they take on the new kids from North Melbourne. Playing at Casey Fields will help but the Kangaroos are an altogether different beast to Brisbane. The Roos will have watched this game to spot where Melbourne are weakest. We will have done the same. It will be interesting to see what changes the Dees make to their game. If the Dees play like they did in Brisbane, then I would definitely not bet against us.

Congratulations to Daisy Pearce & the latest members of the Melbourne Demons Fan Club

Round 2 – Collingwood Vs Melbourne

Liam Chambers

After last week’s disappointing last quarter loss to Fremantle, the Dee’s bounced back to secure their first AFLW win for 2019. The two Team Captains Elise O’Dea & Shelly Scott have filled Daisy Pearce’s legendary boots to perfection. It’s never easy winning away from home and the blustery conditions added to the drama, making scoring opportunities all the more difficult. The 7000 plus crowd got a great evening of footy though. From the start the Dees were determined to make up for that agonizingly close loss to Freo.

Aliesha Newman, showing that she’s lost none of her speed, kicked a beautiful pass which Tegan Cunningham collected in a diving mark. Unfortunately, Tegan didn’t collect the six points. The first quarter ended all even at two points apiece. Melbourne should have been a few goals ahead but the Pies’ defence and the breeze kept their score down.

It looked like the second quarter would also be a low scoring affair until an inspirational kick from O’Dea and a kind bounce saw the Demons get their first goal in the last two minutes. Not to be outdone, the rising star Tyla Hanks (still only 18), pick up the ball on the run and banana kicked superbly to the grateful hands of Lauren Pearce. Pearce converted and the Dees were 16-2 going into the second half.

The third quarter opened promisingly for Melbourne. Cunningham looked back to her winning ways with a lovely mark inside Collingwood’s 50. A one handed mark by Woodland show a nice confidence. Lauren Pearce had a 50 metre penalty awarded to her at the end of the quarter but a misunderstanding of the amount of time left saw her her handball rather than kick for goal. Only one point for the Dees in the third but Collingwood were scoreless.
Melbourne kept up the pressure at the start of the fourth and a tidy kick from Paxman was plucked out of the air by the talented Hanks, which she then converted for a perfect goal. With just over four minutes to go, Collingwood finally found the Dee’s goal, much to the home fans’ delight. Sarah Dargan soccer kicked it between Melbourne’s uprights but it was too late for the Pies.
The Dees won 26-9 and there’s a lot to like about this new line up. Best wishes to Daisy Pearce and the impending arrival of the twin bundles of joy.