Gold Coast skipper Tara Bohanna has kicked the winning behind from long range after the final siren to lift the Suns to a dramatic one-point AFLW victory over Richmond.
The Suns were goalless at quarter-time and trailed by seven points at the long break but came home strongest to win 5.6 (35) to 5.5 (35) at and stay in the top eight.
The hero was Bohanna, who marked in the dying seconds with scores level at Princes Park and was able to slot a crucial minor score.
Charlie Rowbottom (31 disposals, five clearances) and Claudia Whitford (25, six) were the shining lights for Gold Coast, while Lucy Single did a successful tagging job on Richmond star Monique Conti (22 possessions).
Vivien Saad also stood up in defence for the Suns, collecting a match-high nine intercept possessions, including a spectacular flying mark against Tigers captain Katie Brennan.
Prized Tigers recruit Caitlin Greiser kicked the opening goal of the match after the quarter-time siren.
Former Sun Courtney Jones struck first to kickstart the second quarter before shoving former teammate Daisy D’arcy to spark a skirmish between the two sides.
Needing to return to Melbourne to be close to her younger sister who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Jones was traded in a straight swap for Maddy Brancatisano in the offseason.
Shannon Danckert also faced her former side after being delisted by the Suns last season, with Richmond forced to name the train-on player for the match amid a growing injury crisis.
Just five points separated the two sides at three-quarter time after back-to-back goals from Alana Gee and Georgia Clayden flipped the script on the Tigers.
The arm wrestle continued well into the fourth term with both sides lacking composure in front of goal.
Danckert grabbed a mark just in front of goal to rip the lead back for the Tigers but a rushed behind for the Suns quickly levelled scores before Bohanna sealed the win.
Kangaroos climb ladder
Ball magnets Ash Riddell and Jasmine Garner fired the Kangaroos into second spot on the ladder with starring roles in a 45-point belting of Fremantle.
Riddell (37 disposals, six clearances) and Garner (30, three) were dominant figures in the midfield throughout the Kangaroos’ 10.6 (66) to 3.3 (21) victory at Fremantle Oval.
Jenna Bruton (27, four) and Mia King (21, six) also shone, while Tahlia Randall (five goals) and Kate Shierlaw (two) benefited from their teammates’ control around the contest.
Bruton became the 16th player in AFLW history to reach 1,000 career disposals and matched King with a match-high 11 tackles.
It was a disappointing result for Fremantle, who would have moved into the top eight with a win.
Defender Emma O’Driscoll (28 disposals) was the Dockers’ best in a losing cause, as the home side managed just 0.2 to North’s 6.1 after half-time.
Aine Tighe gave Fremantle a great start with the opening goal inside two minutes but the Kangaroos controlled proceedings throughout the first half.
The visitors dominated inside-50s (25-10) and disposals (149-118) to half-time and would have led by more than 10 points if not for wasteful kicking at times in front of goal.
Shierlaw and Randall led the way with two majors each to that point as Riddell (20 disposals), Garner (19) and Bruton (16) ran amok in the midfield.
Randall’s third goal and another from Tess Craven increased the Kangaroos’ lead to 22 points by the final change, with the Dockers held scoreless in the third quarter.
It got ugly in the last quarter as Shierlaw assisted Randall’s fourth goal and blew the margin out to 27 points.
Randall completed the rout with her fifth major on the final siren.
Bombers trump Cats
Essendon pulled off a sensational come-from-behind win over Geelong, triumphing by 10 points to move itself inside the top eight.
Left with a sour taste in their mouths after a 20-point loss to Collingwood last round, the Bombers overcame a scoreless start to win 4.5 (29) to 2.7 (19) against the Cats at Warrnambool’s Reid Oval on Sunday.
The sixth-round win provided Essendon midfield star Maddy Prespakis with family bragging rights over younger sister Georgie in their second AFLW match-up.
Maddy Prespakis also celebrated her 50th match in style with 33 disposals and six clearances as she arm-wrestled her sister (26, 10) for dominance in the midfield.
The younger Prespakis, in her 25th AFLW appearance, kicked the first goal of the afternoon but was denied by the umpires who argued — without a score review system — the ball was touched.
The ever-prolific Chloe Scheer broke through twice to give the Cats a 14-point lead while the hosts were scoreless by quarter-time.
A desperate Essendon went to work in the second quarter, leading contested possessions 14 to four for the term and generating three of the first four inside-50s.
With a minute left on the clock and only three behinds on the scoreboard, Amber Clarke snapped the ball towards goal.
As the ball looked sure to spray across the face, it miraculously bounced backward to slot through the posts and give the Bombers a much-needed six points.
Bombers co-captain Bonnie Toogood cut the margin to one point to kickstart the second half and bring herself within three goals of 50 career majors.
With scores level at three quarter-time, Georgia Nanscawen (24 disposals, six clearances) worked diligently to put the ball back in the hands of the Bombers.
Daria Bannister kicked truly to put Essendon in the lead and was backed by another from Clarke to seal the win.
AAP
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
