Geelong has fallen to its second defeat to start the AFLW season, falling by 14 points to Carlton at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.
In front of a home crowd for the first time this season, the Cats fought hard late but were defeated 4.7 (31) to 2.5 (17) by Carlton, who were shifted into the fixture on Thursday night after the Western Bulldogs were unable to field a full side due to COVID-19 isolation requirements.
The Cats dominated the territory battle early, with nine forward 50 entries in the first quarter but as has been a consistent problem, they were unable to put scores on the board.
“[Scoring] is an area that clearly we need to improve on,” coach Dan Lowther said post-game.
“We thought we had a couple of opportunities there in the first quarter to score – Becky Webster and Amy McDonald had a shot on goal, which narrowly missed, which would have put scoreboard pressure on.
“The second quarter [we were] a little bit off but I thought we wrestled momentum back in the third quarter.
“We just lacked that control element … we’ve got to get that balance right.”
The Cats kept Carlton to just a single goal in each quarter, but could only two of their own, from Rachel Kearns and Phoebe McWilliams.
Lowther said the result was disappointing but the Cats showed some positive signs.
“It was a contest in parts but disappointing clearly,” he said.
“Again we thought this was a winnable game.
“A lot of our preferred players were hit with the dreaded health and safety protocols but we were comfortable with the players we had playing – we just didn’t execute our football decisions [on Saturday night] which made the game very hard.”
The Cats were forced into five changes, with vice-captain Nina Morrison, Julia Crockett-Grills, Sophie van de Heuvel, Georgie Rankin and Madisen Maguire ruled out due to COVID-19 concerns.
Lowther said while key area for improve was the spread from the contest, with the Blues finding it too easy to find players in space.
“Uncontested possession was against us [on Saturday],” he said.
“We had some really high contested numbers – we lost hitouts by a fair bit but we still won clearances and contested possession – but it was just on the outside we got hurt again.
“So we’ve got to get that balance again – I think the competition’s all over that.
There are some good signs … we’ve bought into the style we’re after.
“Our method will work, our contest method is sound, it’s just our refinement and class [that needs some work].”
Reigning best and fairest Amy McDonald was the standout with 21 disposals and six tackles, while Georgie Prespakis collected 15 disposals in her second game.
The Cats sit 10th on the ladder after two games and will be hoping to claim their first win when they return to GMHBA Stadium on Friday night against Collingwood.
