Dockers star Bowers tackles Essendon into submission
Justin Chadwick |
Kiara Bowers has fallen just short of equalling her own AFLW tackling record as Fremantle made it two wins on the trot with a 48-point demolition of Essendon at Fremantle Oval.
Bowers tallied a whopping 21 tackles – narrowly missing her previous record of 22 set three years ago – to help inspire Fremantle to the 9.2 (56) to 1.2 (8) win in sunny conditions on Saturday.
Star midfielders Aisling McCarthy (24 disposals, two goals, 520m gained, five clearances) and Gabrielle Newton (27 disposals, one goal, 10 tackles) were huge for Fremantle, while Bowers added to her tackling heroics with 22 disposals.
For Essendon, Georgia Nanscawen (22 disposals, 10 tackles) and Madison Prespakis (20 disposals, three clearances) battled hard in a losing cause.
Fremantle’s finals hopes looked dead and buried after they followed up their opening-round win over Port with horror losses to Brisbane (70 points), North Melbourne (100 points) and Sydney (25 points).
Last week’s seven-point western derby win over West Coast breathed some life into their season, and the demolition job on Essendon showcased they can be a genuine finals contender when playing at their fiercest.
Fremantle have now evened their ledger at 3-3 ahead of road games against Carlton and Hawthorn.
“The four points is what we want – not tackling records,” Bowers told Fox Footy after the match.
“But I’ll be feeling it tomorrow for sure.
“It’s about getting back to our game of footy, and I felt like today and last week we kind of did that. We want to be that hard team to beat.”
Essendon started their season at 3-0 but they are now 3-3, with last week’s 52-point loss to St Kilda and Saturday’s heavy defeat to Fremantle raising major concerns about their finals credentials.
Only a behind from Bonnie Toogood with three minutes remaining on Saturday ensured Essendon avoided equalling their lowest total – the 1.1 (7) they recorded against North Melbourne last year.
Scores were locked at 0-0 with less than six minutes remaining in the first quarter before McCarthy sparked a four-goal burst.
She kicked a goal from the pocket and then followed it up with a 45m banger less than a minute later to get the party started.
The scoreboard read 31-0 with six minutes remaining in the first half before Essendon finally registered their first score – a behind to Toogood.
It was 37-1 at half-time, and Fremantle turned for home with a dominant 43-1 lead after debutant Poppy Stockwell took a strong contested mark to kick the only goal of the third quarter.
Essendon scored their only goal of the match early in the final quarter when Daria Bannister nailed her shot on the run.
AAP
