Ash Bolt
Geelong has held off a last-minute barrage from West Coast to record its first win of the 2022 AFL Women’s season.
The Cats led on the scoreboard for most of the game at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night, but gave up the lead with just two minutes to go in the final quarter.
But less than 30 seconds later they were back in front, when Darcy Moloney intercepted an errant West Coast handball deep in the forward 50 to kick the winning goal.
The Eagles piled the pressure on for the final 90 seconds, but the Cats held on to claim the win 4.3 (27) to 3.6 (24).
It was the Cats’ first win since round nine last year and the first win at home since round four 2019.
Coach Dan Lowther said the win gave the team confidence it was moving in the right direction, after a two-point loss the week before.
“It allows a bit of validation to creep into the group that the last five weeks have been on the right track and the things we’ve been prioritising have been the right things,” he said.
“It wasn’t pretty at times [on Friday night] but to come back after being pushed for four quarters, it was really pleasing.”
The Cats took the lead early, kicking two goals to none in the first quarter, but were only able to add one more across the third and fourth quarters as the Eagles were able to keep the ball locked in their half.
“It was a frustrating game,” Lowther said.
“After playing pretty good footy in the first quarter, West Coast upped the ante a little bit in the second quarter and the third.
“I thought we’d probably gone away from the way we prefer to play our style, but the girls have fought back over the last four weeks from positions where they could win, should win, but didn’t, so it was really good to get the reward.”
Reigning best and fairest Amy McDonald was the standout for the Cats with 20 disposals, 12 clearances and seven tackles, while Becky Webster (20 disposals and 11 tackles) was also vital in the midfield.
Vice-captain Nina Morrison was solid in her return, starting in defence and moving on ball into in the thick of the action in the final quarter.
Phoebe McWilliams kicked two of the Cats’ goals, while Webster and Moloney kicked the other two.
Moloney said it felt amazing to get the win and the group was looking forward to building on the momentum.
“We’ve been building every week towards it, so to get that win gives us a lot of hope going forward,” she said.
“Going down by two points [against] really lit our fire in our bellies and we knew if we could do it against the reigning premiers then we could do it against West Coast.”
The Cats now have a nine-day break ahead of their round six game against Gold Coast in Southport on Sunday.
Geelong currently sits 10th on the ladder halfway through the season.
