Georgia Nanscawen and Madison Prespakis have produced outstanding displays to lead Essendon to a hard-fought nine-point AFLW win over Gold Coast at People First Stadium.
On a hot and humid Queensland day, Nanscawen racked up 28 disposals, seven clearances and 441m gained, while Prespakis was also influential with 22 disposals, nine clearances and two goals.
The 5.6 (36) to 4.3 (27) win was Essendon’s third in nine days and lifted the Bombers into seventh spot on the ladder.
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In contrast, Gold Coast (six losses, one draw) remain dead last on the ladder.
“It’s super exciting,” Prespakis told Channel 7 of being in the top eight.
“It’s hot up here. But both teams are playing in it. I’m really proud of the girls. I thought we fought hard all game.”
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But it wasn’t all good news for the Bombers, with forward Amber Clarke set to undergo scans after her left knee twisted awkwardly in a tackle late in the third quarter.
Clarke kicked two goals for the match, but was sporting a knee brace after her injury and cut a forlorn figure on the bench.
Jacqueline Dupuy kicked two goals for Gold Coast, while Lucy Single and Charlie Rowbottom finished with 22 disposals each and a combined 15 clearances.
Essendon dominated the opening term, winning the inside 50m count 12-4 as well as taking five marks inside 50m compared to Gold Coast’s zero.
But the Bombers had just one behind to their name until Clarke snapped truly with 33 seconds remaining in the quarter, for a 7-0 lead at the break.
Suns forward Dupuy took a powerful mark in the opening seconds of the second quarter to kick Gold Coast’s first.
Prespakis was doing her utmost to break the shackles from tagger Elise Barwick, and she won a series of free kicks for being held.
The star midfielder also kicked a dribbling goal midway through the quarter, but the margin was back to two points by half-time.
Essendon broke the game open with three goals to nil in the third term.
Prespakis started the run with a smart snap, Clarke kicked one from point-blank range after collecting the ball at the back of a marking contest, before Stephanie Wales nailed her 40m shot on the run.
At 19 points down with one quarter to play, Gold Coast needed to do everything right to snare their first win of the season.
Jordan Membrey snared the early goal they needed, and when Dupuy kicked her second, the margin was just seven points with more than eight minutes remaining.
But it would prove to be their last hurrah, with Prespakis tallying some important late intercepts to keep Gold Coast at bay.