Ella Roberts has celebrated her 50-game AFLW milestone in grand style, producing a typically brave effort as West Coast survived a frenetic Essendon comeback to post a 10-point win at Windy Hill.
The Eagles led by as much as 34 points during the third quarter of Friday’s match and the margin was still 28 points at the final change, with Essendon scoring just two goals up until that moment.
But any thoughts of West Coast simply cruising to victory were extinguished as Essendon launched wave after wave of attack in the last quarter to put the Eagles under all sorts of pressure.
In the end, it was Essendon’s missed chances that resulted in them falling just short, with the Bombers kicking 2.7 to 0.1 in the final quarter as West Coast clung on for the 6.9 (45) to 4.11 (35) win.
Roberts starred on her special day with 31 disposals, four clearances, one goal assist, nine tackles and 717m gained, while Jaide Britton kicked two goals and Amy Franklin kicked 1.3 and took six marks in a powerful display.
Maddy Prespakis (27 disposals, 466m gained) and Steph Wales (20 disposals, one goal) fought hard for the Bombers, who slumped to a 0–7 record.
West Coast started their season with four losses on the trot, but are now back in the finals mix at 3–4 following three consecutive wins.
Over at Whitten Oval, the Western Bulldogs improved to 5–2 with a 13-point win over lowly Port Adelaide (2–5).
Bulldogs forward Heidi Woodley was the star in the 10.2 (62) to 8.1 (49) win, kicking a career-high four goals from 18 disposals.
Ellie Hampson kicked three goals to go along with a goal assist in her Port debut, while Shineah Goody chipped in with two majors and Matilda Scholz had a huge day in the ruck with 22 disposals, 40 hit-outs and five clearances.
But the Bulldogs’ deadly accurate return of 7.0 in the second half meant Port were never able to claw back the 13-point half-time deficit.
In the afternoon game at Princes Park, Carlton romped to a comfortable 11.10 (76) to 3.3 (21) win over Richmond.
AAP
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