The Western Bulldogs ended St Kilda’s finals hopes, while the Lions recorded their fourth-biggest ever win.
Plus Carlton survived a late fightback to defeat Collingwood for the first time in five years.
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WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.6 (36) def ST KILDA 5.5 (35)
St Kilda’s season is over to the sound of a stunning come-from-behind one-point win by the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.
Down by 14 points early in the third term, the Dogs proceeded to kick three goals in a row to get their first lead of the game in the final term where they held on for a 5.6 (36) to 5.5 (35) win on Sunday.
Saints’ Tyanna Smith and Jesse Wardlaw both had long range set-shot opportunities in the final 80 seconds but missed them completely to hand the Dogs a thrilling fourth win of the season.
A smother from Britney Gutknecht in the middle of the ground to prevent a Saints inside 50 with 20 seconds left sealed the victory for Tam Hyett’s side in a hotly contested game.
After Ashleigh Richards levelled the scores for the Saints with just under 10 minutes left, it was a Heidi Woodley point shortly after which proved to be the match-winning score in the end.
The Dogs impressed throughout despite not leading for the majority, with the up-and-coming side winning disposals (254-209), inside 50s (33-28) and clearances (33-25).
The Dogs lost No. 1 draft pick Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner in the second term after the tall forward suffered a corky. Meanwhile, the Saints lost vice-captain Bianca Jakobsson to a potential serious knee injury.
Dogs midfielder Jessica Fitzgerald was a strong contributor for the victors in her 50th game with a game-high 26 touches and a goal in the fourth term which put her side ahead for the first time in the match. Deanna Berry also had a tremendous game with 21 touches and a goal of the year contender.
Serene Watson was handy for the Saints with 21 touches while Wardlaw had a solid outing with 18 disposals.
The 4-6 Saints are yet to make the finals since entering the competition in 2020.
Controversial call
The Saints may have been robbed of a goal when an intercept wasn’t called for front-on contact late in the third term.
Saints’ Hannah Stuart would have had a shot just in front of goal but instead the umpire deemed Jasmyn Smith’s play as legal as the ball was rushed behind to make it an eight-point lead for Nick Dal Santo’s side.
“That’s got to be front-on contact, Smith had no eyes on the football and made contact with Hannah Stuart who was ready to take the grab,” Kate McCarthy said in commentary.
Stunning snap
Dogs midfielder Deanna Berry backed up her excellent nine-disposal first term with a contender for the goal of the season in the second.
Berry’s snap in tight space deep in the pocket cut the Dogs’ deficit to two points just before halftime.
“That’s got to be a contender for goal of the year,” McCarthy said in commentary.
Jakobsson injured
Saints vice-captain Bianca Jakobsson went down with a knee injury late in the opening term after stepping on Elaine Grigg’s foot deep in defence.
Play then stopped as the two-time All-Australian defender was helped off the ground by trainers in what look to be an injury to her left knee.
BRISBANE LIONS 11.12 (78) def SYDNEY SWANS 1.4 (10)
A spectacular performance from Brisbane Lions star Isabel Dawes has led the Lions to a roaring 68-point victory over the Swans, which puts them in third position on the ladder as the finals near closer.
Brisbane is still a chance to finish in the top two, providing Richmond upsets Hawthorn next week and the Lions win big over the Saints.
Dawes had an outstanding game with22 disposals and was a huge scoring threat with two final-quarter goals as the Lions feasted on the Swans.
Sydney kicked the first goal of the game thanks to some Bella Smith brilliance out the back of the pack, but that would be their only goal for the game as Brisbane took over the contest.
The second quarter was one-way traffic as Brisbane put their foot down delivering four majors in front of an energetic home crowd.
Sophie Conway (25 disposals, one goal) and Orla O’Dwyer (22 disposals, four tackles) were key contributors for the Lions, finding plenty of the ball and giving their forwards some great looks.
Conway said the girls weren’t happy with last week’s loss and it had given them extra incentive to get back to playing their best football.
“It was nice to put on a bit of a performance today especially after last week, we were really disappointed with what we dished up,” she said.
“To come out here and play four quarters of Brisbane Lions footy and get the job done, it was really good.”
Lions coach Craig Starcevich agreed that it was a “good response to last week”.
“The finish was terrific, we generated 21 shots to their five and had 18 more inside 50s … there were good signs today,” he said.
“You’re not going to bust a team open early, sometimes you’ve got to play the arm-wrestle until the end, wait for the old dam wall to burst and then you can start scoring.”
Despite the Lions winning the premiership last season and the Saints not making the eight, the Lions’ last trip to the venue saw them fall 21 points short of the Saints.
Starcevich said the side was not complacent coming into the clash against St Kilda next Sunday at RSEA Park.
“The focus is getting ready for St Kilda next week, we didn’t have such a good time of it last year, obviously there’s a bit of trepidation going back after what we encountered last time around,” he said.
“I’m not sure they’ll have a whole lot to play for other than spoiling the day for us, we’ve got to be on, we’re still alive for top two.”
Lions’ spearhead Taylor Smith bounced back in a big way after being held goalless last week as the 24-year-old led the scoring with three goals.
Laura Gardiner was a shining light for Sydney as she battled hard in trying conditions to finish the game with a game-high 27 disposals, three tackles and three clearances.
CARLTON 5.2 (32) def COLLINGWOOD 4.4 (28)
Carlton has survived a late fightback to defeat Collingwood for the first time since 2019 in an intense clash at Victoria Park.
Before holding on for the narrow four-point win on Sunday, the Pies came from 15 points down to get three point ahead midway through the final term.
But a stunning first AFLW goal from Dayna Finn lifted the Blues back in front by three points with seven minutes left where they managed to hold on to score their fourth win of the season.
Keeley Sherar was immense for the Blues in the midfield with a game-high 24 disposals, a goal and 339 metres gained while Brittany Bonnici was excellent for the Pies with 21 touches and seven clearances.
Madeleine Guerin also had a solid outing for the Blues, picking up 17 touches, six inside 50s and five clearances.
It was the closest winning margin between the sides in their nine meetings and the fourth time their encounter was decided by single figures.
In the end, the bottom-placed Pies struggled to give themselves enough opportunities, losing inside 50s (36-23) as they couldn’t make the most of centre clearance dominance (7-1).
Blues key forward Celine Moody was proud of the win following her 50th AFLW game.
“Very happy with that one,” Moody said post-game
“Love having a milestone in the navy Blue and even better to get the win especially with this group of women.”
“We have had a little bit of an inconsistent season, we really want to finish the season strong so it does mean a lot that we get over the line.
The 4-6 Blues will get the chance to put an end to the Essendon’s season on Saturday night when they meet for their final home-and-away game of the season.
Special Finn
What a time to bring up your first AFLW goal.
Dayna Finn struck a stunning floating snap from 30 metres out to put the Blues up by three points with seven minutes left.
The Blues midfielder from Ireland finished the game with 13 touches, a goal and five tackles.
Pies break trend
The Pies have built a reputation of falling away after half time, but they stepped up in the second last game of the regular season to avoid a third-quarter loss for the first time this campaign.
The Pies matched the Blues in the third quarter, drawing it 7-7 as they put through their second goal in the term for the season with Imogen Barnett’s set shot.
Pies stay in it
In a low scoring game, it looked like the game could almost be over when Keeley Sherar scored a terrific drop-punt goal on the run to make it a 25-10 advantage midway through the third term.
But Barnett quickly responded with a goal at the other end less than two minutes later to cut the margin back to nine points and keep the Pies in it.
— NCA NewsWire