Match Report: VFLW Round 9 v North Melbourne
Port Melbourne have endured a thirteen point loss at the hands of North Melbourne on Saturday afternoon. A perfect autumn’s day graced ETU stadium, with Port defeated by the Kangaroos; 3.4.22 to 4.11.35.
Olivia Barton led the disposal-getters once more with twenty two, whilst Kaitlyn O’Keefe finished with seventeen. Kate Adams was solid with fourteen touches and four tackles as Sarah Dargan continued her consistent run of form with thirteen disposals and six tackles.
Dom Carruthers and Jorja Livingstone played their first game in the Red and Blue, the pair finishing with twelve and seven disposals respectively. A third debutant, Olivia Cicolini, was the beneficiary when Kate Dudley was a late withdrawal. Cicolini didn’t quite enjoy the same bruise-free debut of her counterparts, suffering a nasty head clash in the first quarter. The debutant was patched up and thankfully played out the game. Head Coach Sean Buncle remarked that the debutants were ‘fantastic players with plenty of upside;’ it was now just a matter of the trio ‘understanding the Borough’s systems.’
Port Melbourne were the early bolters as Jess Joyce snapped through the first goal of the game amongst heavy traffic. Emily Harley then scored her first of the day, a long range goal off the back of a fast-moving Borough counter attack. North hit back through Eliza McGrath, with Port taking a slender seven point lead into quarter time.
The second quarter was goalless for Port whereas North heaped pressure on the scoreboard. Sarah Skinner goaled halfway through the term for the Kangas, restoring parity in the contest for the first time since Joyce’s goal. If not for wayward goalkicking, North Melbourne could have been further in front than their slim four-point halftime lead.
The script was repeated during the third quarter, with Port suffering another goalless stanza. Emily Paterno kicked her first goal, helping to extend North’s lead to ten at the final change.
The Borough started the final quarter strongly, with Bridie Winbanks setting the tone in the middle. The aforementioned withdrawal of Kate Dudley meant Winbanks bore the brunt of the ruck work, however her repeat efforts around the stoppages muscled Port back into the contest. A trademark Claire Dyett bullet inside-50, and then a fifty-metre penalty brought Emily Harley to the goal line for her second goal of the day. This helped reduce the deficit to four points with the majority of the last quarter still to play.
However, North were out to a ten point margin once again, as Emily Paterno’s long-range shot from outside the arc dribbled its way through. Port Melbourne had no reply, with the contest plateauing and North eventually running out thirteen point victors.
Port Melbourne will be looking to return to the winner’s column next week when they meet the Cats at ETU Stadium. The Borough takes on Geelong at 1:10pm next Saturday.
Port Melbourne 3.4.22 def by North Melbourne 4.11.35
– Andrew Papanikolaou
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