CARLTON'S VFLW side has suffered its fifth loss of the season, going down to the old enemy Collingwood by 35 points at Warrawee Park Oval in Oakleigh on Saturday.
It was a day of ‘almosts’ for the Blues, who despite controlling parts of the game and getting the footy inside 50, were kept goalless by the Pies until the fourth quarter.
Carlton’s effort and tackling pressure couldn’t be questioned throughout the match, but its inability to hit the scoreboard and make the right decisions with ball in hand proved costly in the end.
After Collingwood’s Rising Star Chloe Molloy booted the first goal of the game, her teammate Sophie Alexander followed suit, to lead the Blues by 13 points at half-time.
A few quick goals to the Pies out of the break saw them extend their lead, however not to be discouraged, the Blues showed plenty of character and responded in the last term.
Putting everything on the line, Carlton managed to record six scoring shots in the fourth quarter, kicking two goals and four behinds.
VFLW senior coach Shannon McFerran said building consistency across four quarters will continue to be an area of focus for the team.
“We were good in the first half and managed to limit their score, but in the third quarter we let ourselves down a bit and they got a couple of quick goals,” McFerran said.
“I think we controlled the last quarter, but obviously by then when you’re playing a team that’s undefeated it’s a little tough, but we’re just trying to find some consistency from the team – we’ve got to keep building and developing that into our game.”
Fielding a young team with no experienced forwards is a challenging task, one that McFerran says is a work in progress.
“We’re developing some girls on our list that can play a forward role for us and that takes time,” she said.
“We’ve got girls playing down there who have never played forward before, so we’re trying to invest time in them and develop them – we’ll get there, it’s just a process we’re working through.”
Although goals were hard to come by, the senior coach said she was pleased with the team’s ability to adapt to different structures late in the game.
“In the last quarter we moved Kristi Harvey up forward to see if we could get the ball into her, and we did, so that was a positive; they’re small goals but we’ll get there,” McFerran said.
“We’re a young team, so building confidence is important and that’s hard when you’re not scoring. You gain confidence when you kick goals, so we’ll just keep trying to build.”
The Blues take on Melbourne Uni at Ikon Park next week, with McFerran hoping the team can take home a win.
“Obviously next week we’ll focus on getting that scoreboard pressure, but again just backing ourselves and running and carrying the ball will be key," she said.
“Our endeavour at the footy has been great all year, so we’ll continue to provide that pressure, but we’ll also look to work on our stoppages and structures around the ball.”
FINAL SCORE AT WARRAWEE PARK OVAL:
Collingwood: 1.0 2.2 6.3 8.4 (52)
Carlton: 0.1 0.1 0.1 2.5 (17)
Goals: T. Lucas-Rodd, K. Cox
Injuries: Nil
