AFLW

Adelaide Crows have ridden their finals experience and their quality forward line to a fourth AFLW grand final where they will meet the Melbourne at ...

AFLW showdown: Demons will be out to stop Adelaide’s third flag, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Phillips, however, expects a tough contest.“It’s going to be an epic grand final at a great stadium, so I’m looking forward to it,” Phillips told Channel Seven.Ebony Marinoff (22 possessions) and Anne Hatchard (21 possessions) were exceptional in midfield while Sarah Allan and Chelsea Randall were desperate and assured in defence for Adelaide.Dockers captain Hayley Miller (25 possessions) and midfielder Ebony Antonio (22 possessions, eight tackles) gave their all on the ball but their side lacked potency in front of goal.Phillips settled the Crows with a classy opening goal stepping across the defence and faking a handball before snapping on her left foot.Mikayla Hyde levelled scores for the Dockers but Phillips was the provider finding Caitlin Gould who kicked truly for a slim lead at quarter-time.Proven finals performer Thompson was impressive with her pressure work and clean takeaways and she added a goal early in the second term.Phillips looked to have kicked her second goal soon after but her kick was ruled to have bounced on the line and back into play with leading goal-scorer Ashleigh Woodland first to react grabbing the footy and snapping the goal for a 25-6 lead six minutes before half-time.But the Dockers weren’t giving up with Ebony Antonio lifting her side winning several key possessions including a pass to her wife Kara Antonio who kicked a goal.TV commentator Mark Soderstrom mistakenly referred to the two Antonios as sisters but was quickly corrected on air by expert commentator Bec Goddard, he again referenced the error late in the game calling it a “howler” and complementing Ebony’s performance.Airlie Runnalls dragged the Dockers within reach of Adelaide at half-time down 25-18 with a late roving goal.Danielle Ponter’s goal extended Adelaide’s lead and the Crows continued to attack the goals in the third term but they were repelled by desperate work from the Dockers’ defence including Janelle Cuthbertson, who needed her face checked after her courageous tackle to stop a certain goal.Sarah Allan’s tackle stopped a potential Dockers goal as Adelaide led by 15 points going into the final term.Emma O’Driscoll kicked a goal with 12 minutes to go which cut the lead to nine points but the Crows responded with Woodland appearing to shove Cuthertson in the back then winning a free-kick close to goal which she converted as the Crows secured their win.Demons edge Lions in AFLW prelim, move within sight of premiershipMelbourne will have the opportunity to be concurrent premiers in both the men’s and women’s competitions, after Daisy Pearce’s side secured themselves a grand final spot, defeating reigning premiers Brisbane Lions in the first AFLW match played at the MCG.In a thrilling finish before 6436 fans, the Demons edged Brisbane by four points, 5.3.33 to 4.5.29.Having never met in a final, the Demons entered the clash off an extended break due to the delayed finals series, but had a six-match winning streak, while the Lions hoped to maintain momentum from a 50-point victory over Collingwood last Sunday.The Demons had lost just once this year, in round four against minor premiers Adelaide while the Lions had lost two - against Adelaide and Melbourne.Melbourne went in with one change, draftee Tahlia Gillard making way for Eden Zanker, who returned from a quad injury.Alyssa Bannan of the Demons celebrates a goalBrisbane also made one change, regaining tall defender Indy Tahau from illness, with last week’s debutant Maggie Harmer omitted.It was wet weather footy from the first bounce, Brisbane struggled to get the ball in their forward 50 early on but the Demons didn’t make them pay, not yet anyway.The pressure was hot from both sides, Brisbane were trying to rush the ball forward but the Demons held their form in defence.Lion Dakota Davidson missed an opportunity after the first siren to get the first major of the day, seeing them with just one minor to the Demons’ empty scoreboard.Melbourne’s 50-gamer Karen Paxman had a solid start and led the field with six disposals at the first break, alongside teammate Gab Colvin and Brisbane’s Ally Anderson who had an equal amount of the ball.Alyssa Bannan snapped the first goal of the day with Lion Shannon Campbell hot on her heels.Melbourne were seven clearances up, an area Brisbane normally excels in, but the scores were tied at eight points apiece at half-time.Dakota Davidson slotted one for the Lions early in the third but was quickly responded to by Demon speedster Bannan.Just 30 seconds later, Lauren Pearce added another to Melbourne’s tally to put them six points up.Brisbane were struggling to get past the Demons’ defence and seemed absent around stoppages, however, contested possessions were almost equal.Eliza McNamara impressively soccered another through for the Demons through Brisbane defence to send them 11 points up at the final break.The Lions were looking to do something different they moved Greta Bodey up to the wing and Orla O’Dwyer forward, but Bannan found a loose ball to slot her third for the day and increase the Demons’ lead.Lion Shannon Campbell got on the end of the ball to cut the margin to 10 points with five minutes to go.Brisbane’s Lucinda Pullar left play after a hard fall, her team managing repeated inside 50s but missing their opportunities until Greta Bodey cut the margin to three points with 36 seconds to go, but the home team held on until the final siren.Demons skipper Pearce said she was “pumped” by the result.“I’m just so proud of our girls to come in there and keep ticking away, there were no superstars, just people prepared to play their role for four quarters” Pearce said.“Not just for me personally, but for so many of these girls, they’ve have been on the journey for a long time, we’ve been chipping away at this for a long time and we’ve been close a few times but never this close.”Melbourne will face the winner of the Adelaide-Fremantle preliminary final later on Saturday.Karen Paxman ran out for her 50th game, and is one of just two players to be five-time All Australians (alongside Emma Kearney).Signed by Melbourne as a priority player ahead of 2017, Paxman has finished in the top three of Melbourne’s best and fairest every year.She leads the club in disposals, tackles, clearances, score involvements, metres gained, contested possessions, uncontested possessions, inside 50s, rebound 50s and intercepts.For the first time in the AFLW competition’s history, female footballers ran onto the iconic MCG for a preliminary final.Melbourne first played in the first official VFL match at the MCG in round two, 1897. We’re working to restore it. We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. AFLW showdown: Demons will be out to stop Adelaide’s third flag Adelaide Crows have ridden their finals experience and their quality forward line to a fourth AFLW grand final beating Fremantle Dockers at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.The two-time premiers will host the grand final against Melbourne next Saturday after their pressure work around the ball and the finishing of Ashleigh Woodland (two goals), Erin Phillips (one goal, one goal assist) and 50-gamer Stevie-Lee Thompson (one goal) proved the difference in a 14-point preliminary final victory.The Crows will start favourites having beaten Melbourne earlier this season. Club president, Kate Roffey said it was a proud moment to host the game.“We’re incredibly proud of our women’s program and the athletes who continue to push themselves each week, are now hosting a history-making match at the ’G. The MCG is the home of footy - and it’s no longer reserved for the men’s game,” Roffey said., register or subscribe to save articles for later.Roy Ward is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist.