Wayward Dees fall short

Daisy Pearce absolutely starred for the Dees, but it wasn''t enough to walk away with the four points. Picture: COURTESY OF AFL MEDIA

By Nick Creely

AFL WOMEN’S
REVIEW – ROUND 3
Inaccuracy, one of the biggest sins in football, saw premiership fancy Melbourne upstaged by Fremantle on Sunday, in a result that could shake things up as five teams remained locked on eight points.
Hampered by a slow start, the Dockers found the four points via two impressive snap goals late by debutant Emily McGuire, ending the Demons’ unbeaten start to the season.
But it wasn’t just McGuire’s snap goals that saw the Demons return across the Nullarbor disappointed, it was a wayward first quarter that cost them the chance to surge ahead in the game and provide a big enough of a gap.
In the first term, the Demons couldn’t convert on the scoreboard despite their utter dominance, and despite Daisy Pearce (24 disposals) once again shining through sheer class in the midfield, once the ball got forward of centre, it was wasted opportunity after wasted opportunity.
The Dockers clawed their way back in the second term to regain the lead, and in spits and spurts of momentum for both sides, the lead seesawed in the second half.
With scores level 30-30 midway through the final term, McGuire iced the game with a brilliant snap from the pocket, sending the Dockers fans at Fremantle Oval into raptures.
Mick Stinear didn’t hide his frustration at the wasted opportunities in the first quarter, but understands how difficult the competition is becoming
“The frustration probably sinks in after the game, everything was going right, but just couldn’t convert on the scoreboard,” he said post-match.
“We had to make the most of our opportunities, and Freo kicked six straight, so credit to them
“(But) the girls had set themselves up really well in the first two weeks, but it’s just the nature of the comp, it’s tough every week, and we had our moments and opportunities but we didn’t capitalize.
“The big thing for us is just getting better every week, and this week we have to do that on the back of a loss.
“We’ll be a better side with what happened.”
The Demons will travel to Traeger Park in Alice Springs on Saturday to take on the struggling Collingwood.
FREMANTLE 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 (36)
MELBOURNE 1.5 1.5 4.6 4.7 (31)
GOALS
Fremantle: McGuire 2, Antonio, Lavell, Webb, Caulfield
Melbourne: Cunningham 2, Newman, Paxman
BEST
Fremantle: Donnellan, Gooch, Antonio, Webb, Filocamo, McGuire
Melbourne: Pearce, Paxman, Cunningham, O’Dea, Jakobsson
INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Melbourne: Phillips (ankle)