CAPTAIN Daisy Pearce says her side responded exactly how she wanted – with a win over the Brisbane Lions at Casey Fields on Friday night – after the Demons had dropped their previous two games against Fremantle and Collingwood.

Pearce, who was outstanding with 23 disposals, four tackles and two goals, said she was rapt with her team’s effort after a disappointing display against the Pies in Alice Springs last round.

“I was very proud of the group. It was a good response after a disappointing showing last week,” she told melbournefc.com.au.

“We were really embarrassed about what we put out on the park last week.

“So, we just went back to basics and knew it was about cracking in and showing what we were about tonight, and the result would look after itself – and we did that for four quarters.”

Although Melbourne’s inaccuracy on the scoreboard came to the fore in the six-point win over the Lions – the Demons kicked 4.10 – Pearce said capitalising would be a focus during the week.

“We had a lot of opportunities to put more goals on the board,” she said.

“But after the last few weeks – where we’ve been trying to put polish on the game and we went away from our core business, which is winning inside ball – we were just proud about how we went about that.

“While it would’ve been nice to put a few more [goals] away and win by a bit more, you have to take confidence out of the fact that we can turn on that hard stuff and win it in close. Hopefully some of those goals start to drop in the next few weeks.”

Pearce ignited the Demons with the first two goals of the match and said she was pleased with her start after the game up in Alice.

“We knew we had to have 21 contributors and that’s probably where we’ve fallen away in the last couple of weeks,” she said.

“It’s always nice to play good team footy and contribute in some way.

“Mick’s (Stinear) message to me – after a pretty disappointing last week – and Sam Radford, our midfield coach, was to hunt the footy, crack in and not worry about all of that external polish stuff. Go back to what I do best, and what the team does best – and that’s winning the first one.”

Pearce said the players would relish the moment, but quickly move onto next week's game against Carlton at Ikon Park. 

“It’s always a pretty special place in the rooms after a win and it’s amazing what a [win by a] goal or a couple of goals can make to the vibe in here. It’s great to be back on the winners’ list and have our season back alive, after a week where we’ve been under pressure,” he said. 

“We’ll enjoy this and then get ready for a big game against Carlton next week.”