Melbourne has won a thriller against Fremantle after Adelaide thumped the Western Bulldogs by 56 points to secure their places in the AFLW finals leading into the last round of the season.
Fremantle missed out on a chance to go top in the 5.7 (37) to 4.8 (32) loss, which came down to a Maddison Gay goal in the dying minutes.
The Demons had shot out of the gates and led 29-6 at half-time as the Dockers kicked six behinds in the opening half. But they found their radar and staged a second-half comeback.
Fremantle kicked four straight goals and hit the lead thanks to Gemma Houghton, before a 50-metre penalty in the middle of the field cost them dearly.
Fremantle’s Emma O’Driscoll strayed too close to Melbourne star Daisy Pearce after a mark and as she was taking her 50 metres, she spied Maddison Gay in a one-on-one contest. Pearce chipped inside 50 and Gay held a tough mark under pressure despite the attempted spoil from Matilda Sergeant.
Gay went back and slotted the goal and the Demons managed to stave off one last scramble in front of goal to hang on for the win.
Melbourne is now fifth, level on 24 points with Fremantle and Adelaide, who jumped to thrird and secured another finals berth with an exclamation-mark win over the Bulldogs.
Chloe Scheer nailed three goals, Caitlin Gould nabbed two and Ebony Marinoff once again led both sides with 25 disposals in the 12.6 (78) to 3.4 (22) win.
There is just one spot in the top six left up for grabs, which North Melbourne currently holds on 20 competition points, but Carlton, the Bulldogs and GWS are all one game back, although Carlton is the only one with a realistic chance of closing the percentage gap required.
Richmond wins at Punt Road home
Richmond have celebrated a breakthrough win at their traditional Punt Road Oval home, outlasting West Coast in a stirring AFLW battle.
The Tigers had to withstand an Eagles second-half challenge for the 5.12 (42) to 5.4 (34) victory, played in constant rain.
Supplied: Fox Sports
)It was set up by Richmond’s first-half dominance and the lead stretched to 23 points after Christina Bernardi goaled early in the third quarter.
But West Coast booted the next three goals to cut the margin to just six points before Tiger forward Katie Brennan took a strong mark and kicked the goal that saved the day.
The Tigers’ midfield unit of Ellie McKenzie, Monique Conti and Sarah Hosking was instrumental in setting up the seemingly insurmountable lead before the Eagles’ onballers took over in the second half as Irish sisters Grace and Niamh Kelly consistently sent them inside the forward 50.
It was a brave effort by West Coast, the Eagles finishing the bruising game with a bench full of injured players.
Coming off a six-day break, the Eagles lost captain Emma Swanson to suspension for rough conduct. Fellow onballer Aisling McCarthy was out of the game in the opening minutes with a knee injury.
ABC/AAP
,
