Overlooked by all Victorian clubs on draft day, cult hero Sarah Perkins made her most significant impact of the inaugural AFLW season, booting four vital goals against Collingwood on Sunday to book Adelaide a place in the first national women's league grand final and inflict a new kind of heartbreak on Melbourne. The Crows will travel to Queensland to face the Lions on Saturday after kicking five goals to nil in the final term at Olympic Park Oval, ultimately beating the in-form Pies by 24 points after a compelling and topsy-turvy encounter.
Why Adelaide won the game
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The Melbourne players in the crowd of 2500 could have been forgiven for moving towards the queue for beers at half time to get their Mad Monday started. With spearhead Perkins proving to be an immoveable presence in attack, Adelaide looked to have shrugged off poor first half kicking and a persistent Collingwood outfit searching for a fourth win in a row. But having dominated the inside 50 count 20-6 to the long break, the Crows inexplicably fell in a hole, as the Pies began to win the midfield battle, keeping Adelaide scoreless in the third term and working their way to a seven-point lead at three-quarter time, helped in no small part by the output of marquee forward Moana Hope. But sensing the urgency of the situation, the Crows lifted again, with Perkins kicking two crucial goals to swing the ascendancy back towards her side. From there Adelaide ran away with the game, equalling Melbourne's record score set a day earlier at Casey Fields against Fremantle.
The play of the game
With the Crows missing three chances in early minutes, they needed a settler. Star Erin Phillips provided it. Rhiannon Metcalfe gathered as the ball dropped from a marking contest at right half-forward, dishing it off by hand to Chelsea Randall who sent the ball to full forward where Phillips was waiting at the feet of the pack. She found space, steadied, and snapped a textbook crumbing goal. Co-captain Phillips would add another spectacular moment in the final quarter too when she sent through a running goal from 50 metres.
The moment that people will talk about
Having turned the tables on the Crows in the third quarter, Collingwood had all the momentum, and had a chance to extend their lead to 13 points via a Jess Cameron set shot moments into the final term. But Cameron missed from 35 metres, and the Crows took it down the other end. Jenna McCormick sent the ball long to full forward, where Perkins was one-out against Pie Stacey Livingstone. The burly Crow gathered and sent it through from close range, celebrating with an exuberant leap into the air.
What the result means for the teams
The Crows dislodged the Demons to win finish second on the ladder and book a grand final date with the Lions, who pipped them by three points a fortnight ago in Norwood. After a slow start to the season, the Pies won back some admirers with three wins in the final four weeks of the season, something to build on for 2018.
Best on ground
Adelaide: S. Perkins, E. Phillips, E. Marinoff, J. McCormick, A, Foley, C. Randall
Collingwood: S. Chiocci, A. Eva, M. Hope, S. D'Arcy, M. Kuys
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