Summary

MELBOURNE fell agonisingly short of victory on Sunday, suffering a narrow four-point loss to the Kangaroos at Casey Fields.

The result leaves the Demons fourth on the ladder in Conference A with two wins from four games, but this fails to reflect the quality footy being played by the girls.

The Demons were challenged by the strong North Melbourne side, causing them to make some basic errors early in the warm conditions.

The fundamentals let the Dees down in the first-half which gave North a 10-point buffer at the main break, but a refreshed Melbourne side shifted the momentum at the start of the third term.

Consecutive goals from Aliesha Newman and Tyla Hanks handed the Demons an unlikely lead in the third quarter, but the Roos responded to edge three-points clear at the final change.

Newman goaled again to help Melbourne hit the front after just two minutes of play in the last term, but Emma King was the next and final goal scorer of the game putting the Kangaroos ahead at the right time.

After crossing over from Carlton at the end of last year, Demon Maddi Gay played her best game in red and blue colours racking up 15 disposals. She recaps the Round 4 clash below.

The numbers

DISPOSALS: Paxman 25, Mithen 22, Hore 18, Gay 15, O’Dea 15, Cunningham, Pearce 13

GOALS: Newman 2, Cunningham, Hanks, Phillips

Contested game

“I think we showed in the second half we could compete with the North girls in the contested game, but I think they just showed their skills and their strength in the first half and we couldn’t really keep up. But we focused on that going into the second half and improved at that.

“I think some of us were caught a bit flat footed early and just allowed the North girls to grab the ball. We’re one of the highest contested possession teams but we just let them take off and they caught us off guard.

“They’ve let most teams know they want to own the outside of the game which they did quite well in the first half too.

“It felt like they were everywhere, and it felt like they had more numbers in the first half, but then we started to execute a bit more in the second.”

Two halves

“I noticed early that all us mids were going in to get the ball, then we’d handball it out and it was just North surrounding us. So we highlighted that at the half-time break and tried to change things up, and I think we did that well.

“I think the first half really let us down because we were with them for the second half and we had more of it in our forward 50 which is how we want to play.

“I think we’ve just got to go into next week and start the game off strong – not let any team get that first break.”

The standouts

“I’d have to highlight Tyla Hanks and Kate Hore, as well as Karen Paxman with her legs around the ground. I think those girls just kept competing when they could and giving options leading up to the ball. They kept tackling and putting pressure on the North girls which is how we want to play our footy and how we like to play our game, so I think they executed that quite well.

“Teegs (Tegan Cunningham) played a great game as well. For a full-forward to have 13 disposals and a goal I think she’s done quite well. She had a heap of pressure on her, every time she flew up she had two or three defenders going with her, so us mini’s had to get to the ground ball.”

Emotions post-game

“Obviously when you lose like that in a four-point game it doesn’t feel good.

“The emotions going around just showed how much it means to each player in the rooms there.

“Being such a short season, it’s hard having a loss like that because you need to win nearly every game.

“I just think it showed that we’re all in it and we all want it as much as each other and it sucks losing the four points, but we’ve just got to move onto next week now.”

Mick’s message

“He said to feel it, be disappointed – you can’t just forget about a loss like that.

“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game, but being such a short season you can’t really dwell on a loss. You’ve got to get up, recover well and be prepared for next week which is GWS.”

Looking ahead

Round 5 v GWS Giants @ Blacktown International Sportspark – Sunday, 3 March, 2:05pm AEDT

“Obviously having a loss on the weekend is going to make it a bit harder, but we’re still in contention (for finals).

“With every team being on 12 or eight points in our conference it’s making it quite tight, so the next three games are pretty much a must win, but it also depends on how the other teams go as well.”