Crows ecstatic after booking spot in finale with tough victory
ADELAIDE has stormed into its fourth grand final in six AFLW seasons, with Ash Woodland kicking two goals in a tense 14-point win against Fremantle on Saturday.
Erin Phillips set the tone early and Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard combined superbly on the ball as Crows saw off a stern challenge from the Dockers to score a 6.4 (40) to 4.2 (26) preliminary final win at Adelaide
Oval. The minor premiers will host Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Saturday after the Demons defeated Brisbane Lions in the other preliminary final.
“We’re ecstatic to be able to bring the grand final back here,” coach Matthew Clarke said. “It was high emotion (in the changerooms) as it should be . . . it’s not every day you get to play in a grand final.
“There’s a bucketload of work that goes into that, they’ve worked unbelievably hard, and we’re very proud of them.”
It is just reward for fearless skipper Chelsea Randall, who missed last year’s premiership decider against the Lions with a concussion. Randall was outstanding down back against Fremantle, taking intercept marks and repeatedly repelling forward forays.
Hayley Miller, Ebony Antonio and Kiara Bowers led the way for the Dockers, who trailed by eight points early in the final term before Woodland settled frayed nerves with her second major.
“I was really happy with our effort and our execution wasn’t too bad, but Adelaide’s pressure made us handball too often,” Dockers coach Trent Cooper said. “There were times we started to play more like our brand and we looked dangerous, but they’re a very hard side to break down.”
It was Adelaide’s first game in 20 days, but the home side showed no ill effects in a bright start.