They go straight down the guts and goal to reply…
29-34 about half-way into the last quarter.
Ahhh! My plane is starting to taxi. I’m not going to know the outcome!
Thank you for the updates @theDJR!
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Hardy big tackle in the middle.
Un-handy point™.
29-35
Three minutes left?
Get it to Morecroft!
So wtf are you actually in, a plane or a taxi?
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Fark!
Siren as we run it down the wing.
Game decided by the dubious (the Footscray crowd ten metres away certainly didn’t notice it) throw call in the opening minute.
There were certainly a few ■■■■■■ throw calls during the rest of that quarter.
29-35
Morcom finishes game on bench with ice pack on that left thigh.
Thks radio DJR, with input from Redman
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Oh man, that missed goal by Lauren in the last: 11 point turnaround, game lost.
Still BOG for us, given she was involved in almost all of our scores.
Hardy notably stepped up in the midfield.
Ugle is like a tiny Saad (stops things she should she have no chance to, and loves a run out of the back line).
The ground is a bit of a dud, over and above there being no good vantage points.
It’s almost round and has ~40 metre forward arcs then a 10 metre gap to the centre square.
In a game with zoning rules, those small arcs matter because it’s where you get sent back to (sometimes) at stoppages.
The surface was decent apart from the hard middle cricket pitches and some dangerous sand traps and patched sections at the western end.
As a guide, the Windy Hill arcs cover around 21% of the ground, whereas Merv Hughes has only 15% of that big fat gut covered.
Taxiing earlier. Taxi now.
Official bests: Neaves, Ugle, Morecroft, #1 Trend, Collier, DeMatteo
2 goals to Moreau (both due to Morecroft), 1 goal to Morecroft, 1 goal to Hetherington
Ah, gotcha.
I have a sure fire recipe for knowing which is which.
If you are allowed to sit next to the driver, odds are it’s a taxi.
If there are over coiffed women showing you floatation devices, fair bet it’s a plane.
Or a boat.
So look out the window, and if it has wings, the first assumption was correct and it is indeed a plane.
You’re welcome.
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Well, this explains why I didn’t see the free to Hetherington. One of the umps was hot on forced zoning all day, which was a little comical given the crap linemarking; umpiring of this varies week to week but mostly isn’t taken fully seriously.
The match went down to the wire with five lead changes before Bulldog forward Mickayla Ward put her side clear halfway through the final quarter at Henry Turner Reserve.
The Bombers had their chances to regain the lead but, try as they might, couldn’t break the half-forward line under mounting desperation in the final minutes and lost 4.5 (29) to 5.5 (35).
With Aysha Ward a late in for Chloe Laan, the Bombers hit the ground with all the vigour they displayed against Richmond as Val Moreau claimed advantage from a free kick to slot the first of the match with the wind.
The Bulldogs regained the lead in a high-scoring second quarter as Ellie Blackburn and Annabel Scott kicked back-to-back goals before Lauren Morecroft and Moreau replied to hold the half-time deficit to just five points.
Essendon struggled to break the game open with the wind in the third quarter, but the Bombers finally helped themselves to a stroke of luck when Tanya Hetherington received a free kick for an anti-density infringement in the shadows of the siren and slotted the set shot.
Although the Essendon backline repelled with growing maturity in the final quarter, the match boiled down to a single rebound play; ten minutes into the term, Morecroft’s set shot from the paint of 50 missed to the left-hand side and the Dogs slung the ball forward where Ward dribbled through her second.
Courtney Ugle and Jess Trend were prolific in the midfield. Down back, Kirby Hicks added former Melbourne AFLW forward Alyssa Mifsud to her season’s scalps, while Bec Neaves blanketed Western Bulldogs AFLW player Deanna Berry.
After spending much of the season as pillars in defence, Morecroft and Hetherington proved their versatility with their first goals in the red and black.
Although influential, Ellie Blackburn was never allowed easy possession as Alex Morcom kept the AFLW superstar honest in the first half.
Indeed, coach Brendan Major went so far as to say that his side had delivered a better four-quarter performance than in their round nine win over Richmond.
“Our midfielders were really strong around the contests, our defenders locked down hard, particularly around the half-back line,” Major said after the match.
“People expect a young side to take their time developing but you always want to be taking the next step forward rather than falling back, and we did that today.”
Essendon face reigning premiers Darebin at Bill Lawry Oval next Saturday from 12pm.
ESSENDON 1.3 3.3 4.4 4.5 (29)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.0 4.2 4.2 5.5 (35)
GOALS
Essendon – Moreau 2, Morecroft, Hetherington
Western Bulldogs – Ward 2, Blackburn, Berry, Scott
BEST
Neaves, Ugle, Morecroft, Trend, Collier, De Matteo
By Callum O’Connor