IT WAS a day of elevated heart rates at Ikon Park, as the Blues just hung on in a tough contest with the Tigers.
Senior coach Daniel Harford was less than enthusiastic about the slow start from the Blues, but was happy with how his girls were able to turn it around and hang on.
“We had a really positive step forward last week against the Saints, and then to play how we did in that first quarter, that’s not who we are as far I’m concerned,” Harford said.
“The start certainly didn’t go to plan and then we got our tails back into the contest with some really good style, system and effort and then in the last quarter within the first five minutes the scoreboard pressure came on and in the end we just clung on.”
Harford delivered a simple message to the girls at quarter time, urging them to try harder to stop the Tigers dominance around the goals.
Another win in the books for the Blues. ?
— Carlton Women's (@carltonfc_w) February 20, 2021
“‘Please try harder’ was effectively what I was trying to say,” he said.
“We just didn’t have our heads in the game for the first term for some reason, and full credit to the Tigers, I thought they were fantastic, they planned and executed really well and we just sat on our heels and let them do it.”
The second quarter of the game was when the Blues started to look like themselves again, with Harford attributing the momentum shift to Maddy Prespakis and Tayla Harris.
“I thought [Maddy] and Tayla turned things around for us in that second term,” he said.
“Tayla had a big hit which ended up with Maddy’s second goal and she played big, she took marks down the line for us, she played physically in the contest.
“I thought those two probably in the second term turned things around for us and it was great to see Tay be able to do that.”
The Darcy Vesci-Show was on full display this afternoon. ??
— Carlton Women's (@carltonfc_w) February 20, 2021
Click through for all the best moments from today's win. ??
In the end, it was Darcy Vescio who put on a show for the Blues, kicking a three-goal-haul that solidified their victory.
“Darcy Vescio, no doubt that was her best game for the year,” he said.
“It’s been coming for Darce, she hasn’t got a reward for effort on the scoreboard, but her effort around the ground for the last couple of weeks has been really strong and she’s working her backside off.
“Some days, it goes your way, some days it doesn’t from a scoreboard perspective, but she got her lick of the ice cream today and it was pretty tasty.”
