ADELAIDE has celebrated Anne Hatchard’s 100th AFLW game with a tense 12-point win against Fremantle that locked up the last finals berth up for grabs and secured a priceless home final for the Crows.

Results in the lead up to the final game of the home-and-away season meant Sunday’s game at a wet Norwood Oval was a ‘win and you’re in’ scenario for both teams.

The Crows trailed by three points halfway through the third quarter after an excellent goal on the run from Aisling McCarthy, but fought back to lead by five points at three-quarter time in a match that was played with finals-like intensity throughout.

Fittingly, it was Hatchard who ultimately sealed the victory with a strong mark and goal in the final term setting up the 4.5 (29) to 2.5 (17) win.

St Kilda’s shock loss to the Western Bulldogs on Sunday saw them relinquish sixth spot, with the Crows’ win seeing them leap from eighth to sixth to claim a precious home elimination final against the Saints.

Ebony Marinoff was outstanding on the ball with a team-high 26 possessions and Sarah Allan was brilliant in defence to help the Crows extend their all-time win-loss record against Fremantle to 9-1.

“It was a finals-like game, clearly, and in the third quarter, when they hit the lead, I thought the group just dug in and found a way,” Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke said.

“Ultimately, I don’t think we played our absolute best footy, but the ‘will’ to win was really strong,

“We haven’t been consistent this year, and hence we’ve dropped a couple of games which we might have otherwise won, but in the end, we arrive here relatively healthy.

“We’ve got a lot of work in over the whole of the season … so we’re well prepared.

“We’ve got players that have played a lot of finals, so they won’t be daunted by the prospect, so we’ll try to make the best of our opportunity.”

Adelaide drew first blood through Caitlin Gould, but its early lead was brief as Fremantle got right on top.
The visitors put enormous pressure on the Crows’ back six with repeated entries, but could only muster one goal to Hayley Miller to edge to a one-point lead at the first break despite leading a lopsided inside 50 count 17-3.

With leading possession winners Marinoff and Sarah Goodwin leading the way, the resurgent Crows flipped the script in the second.

The home side had 17 inside 50s for the term, while restricting the Dockers to just two entries, with Lisa Webb’s side failing to register a score.

Despite that dominance, Adelaide could only manage one goal, to quick-thinking Grace Kelly.

Kelly became the game’s first multiple goalkicker in the third quarter to help her side to a five-point lead and set up an incredibly tense final term finish.

Mim Strom was the dominant ruck on the ground and Gabby Newton had a game-high 28 possessions, but the Dockers were left to rue inefficiency going inside attacking 50.

“We certainly had a really strong plan that we wanted to execute against a really good team,” Fremantle coach Lisa Webb said.

“I think this time last year we were a fair way off, but we’ve certainly improved and we put ourselves in a position to be able to win the game.

“I can’t fault the girls’ effort and intensity to want to win the contest.

“They’re a terrific group to coach, they really are, and we’ve had a changing team this year, and I think their buy-in has been really good.

“But obviously we came here to win, and we fell short of that.”

Gritty Grace Kelly goals
Grace Kelly showed impressive grit and determination to boot the only goal of the second quarter. With her side down on the scoreboard, Kelly willed herself to a contest deep inside attacking 50, gathered a hot ball, shook off a tackle and sent the ball goalward off her non-preferred left. The wobbler didn’t look pretty off the boot, but it was wildly applauded as a thing of beauty by the home fans as it took a late swing through for a goal.

Ebony’s hard-hitting 1,000
Ebony Marinoff led all players with 15 possessions in the first half, with her four tackles taking her to 999 career tackles. She became the first AFLW player to pass the 1,000-tackle mark early in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 15 to take her career tally to 1,010.

Up next
The Crows will host St Kilda in an elimination final at Norwood Oval, while Fremantle’s season finishes with the Dockers in 11th spot with a 6-6 record.

ADELAIDE      1.1   2.2   3.4   4.5 (29)
FREMANTLE   1.2   1.2   2.5    2.5 (17)

GOALS
Adelaide: G Kelly 2, Gould, Hatchard
Fremantle: Miller, McCarthy

BEST 
Adelaide: Marinoff, S Allan, Goodwin, Biddell, G Kelly, Hatchard
Fremantle: M Strom, McCarthy, Newton, O’Driscoll, Low, Miller

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Fremantle: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: TBC at Norwood Oval