By Alex Iacono
Melbourne Demons continued their quest for back-to-back premierships, securing the McClelland Trophy with an 8.13 (61) to 4.4 (28) win on Saturday at Casey Fields.
In hopes to retain their top of the table position and purge towards another finals campaign, Melbourne took on a fierce Fremantle.
Conditions were tricky and windy, but that didn’t stop the underdogs from taking the early lead as Fremantle forward Megan Kauffman finished a decisive set shot one minute into the game.
The premiers swiftly responded after a nifty banana from Tyla Hanks, with the quarter eventually ending with the Dockers ahead by just a point.
The Demons made the most of their home-ground advantage after capitalising on Fremantle’s defensive errors, hitting the front early with a goal from Eden Zanker.
Momentum drove the Demons to a three-goal haul in the second quarter.
Defensive errors got the better of the Demons as Fremantle began to bite back, with Kaufman taking the run on to cut the lead to 18 points heading into the major break.
With accuracy depleting Melbourne’s lead, their quest in topping the table continued as they began to take the game on in the third quarter.
Melbourne’s bravery led to Kate Hore’s first goal of the game, as inaccuracy was prevalent in her charge to increase the margin for the Demons.
At the other end, Fremantle’s Serena Biggs gave hope to the Dockers for a last quarter comeback, going into the third break with her side trailing by 17 points.
With seven score attempts in the last quarter, Melbourne rebounded well after a bit of magic from Blaithin Mackin surging the purge in the Demons’ lead.
Kauffman appeared again, adding a third to her tally, prolonging thoughts of a comeback, but the Demons took the game home as Hore and Zanker appeared on the score-sheet again, securing the 33-point victory, top spot and the McClelland trophy.
The McClelland Trophy gives the Demons right to $1 million, awarded to the club that has the most home-and-away season points from the combined AFL and AFLW seasons.
In defender Shelly Heath’s 50th game, Paxman’s 27 disposals and Hore’s six score involvements helped the Demons to the top of the table with one game left of the home and away season.
Domination on the inside 50 front (Melbourne 40 – Fremantle 24) helped them to victory, coach Mick Stinear pleased with the team’s application across the four quarters.
“[In] really challenging conditions against a tough side, we felt like we controlled the game for majority of the day, [we had] 21 scoring shots in a game that was really tough to convert,” Stinear said.
“Overall, the team’s effort, contest work and ability to play in our forward half was really pleasing.”
