Essendon have taken a large step in direction of a debut AFLW finals look after holding off a persistent Richmond outfit to win a fierce contest by 17 factors.
In simply their second AFLW season, the Bombers sit 5-2 and can end the spherical no decrease than sixth after a vital victory over the more-fancied Tigers at Ikon Park.
Richmond opened the scoring by means of Emelia Yassir simply 26 seconds into Saturday night time’s Indigenous Round match, however the Bombers powered forward from there to win 8.5 (53) to five.6 (36).
Essendon shocked the Tigers with 4 first-quarter objectives as co-captain Bonnie Toogood and dynamic ahead Daria Bannister slotted majors in a minute of one another.
“It was a crucial (match),” Toogood instructed the Seven Network.
“I had a chat with ‘Woody’ (coach Natalie Wood) before the game and I was like ‘I’m pretty nervous for this, this means a lot for our season’.
“It’s actually pleasing we acquired the objectives we did in opposition to a very powerful opposition.
“We don’t (talk about finals yet) because we’re just looking for improvement each week.”
Despite copping a tough tag from former Carlton teammate Sarah Hosking, Bombers star Madison Prespakis was nonetheless influential with 24 possessions, six clearances and a objective.
But Prespakis may have a nervous wait to be taught if she is cited by the match overview officer after laying a possible harmful deal with on Richmond star Monique Conti.
The Bombers’ outcome was soured considerably after Bannister left the sector late within the remaining quarter with a suspected knee damage.
Bannister has endured a wretched run with damage, with the 24-year-old lacking the Western Bulldogs’ premiership in 2018 after rupturing her ACL in that season.
Yassir was sensible for the Tigers with three objectives, however did spend a while off the sector within the second-half getting her ankle checked out.
As all the time, Conti was prolific and completed with a game-high 27 possessions.
Essendon ought to maintain lowly West Coast subsequent week earlier than ending off the home-and-away season with winnable matches in opposition to Carlton and Gold Coast.
The Bombers might want to win at the very least two of these video games to be assured of ending contained in the top-eight however might nonetheless sneak in with only one victory.
Richmond have slumped to 3-4 and are at risk of lacking the finals after ending within the top-four final season earlier than they had been knocked out in straight units.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
