Collingwood’s Aishling Sheridan is tackled on the goal line by Western Bulldogs’ star Ellie Blackburn. Photo: AFL MEDIA

SECOND QUALIFYING FINAL
MELBOURNE 7.6 (48) d ADELAIDE 4.3 (27)
Two snapshot moments encapsulated the night for the reigning premier Crows in this qualifying final. At the end of the first quarter, Adelaide’s Caitlin Gould was all smiles and pumped fists after controversially shoving her ruck opponent Tayla Harris in the back, out of the contest, and kicking the second of her two goals, Adelaide enjoying an 18-point lead at the first break. But in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, there was badly banged-up Crows’ captain Chelsea Randall lining up for goal — sporting a visible bruise to her left knee, a black right eye and a bloody nose — then stumbling backward on to the turf, rendering herself unable to take the shot. In the space of the second quarter to Randall’s moment, the Dees overtook Adelaide to lead by two points at half time, then kicked three goals in the final term to run out 21-point winners. Melbourne appeared to save its most physical and intense effort of the season for this game, and it was Olivia Purcell, its star recruit, who ignited them. Purcell — who finished with 26 possessions (13 contested), eight tackles, and four clearances — sidestepped a defender to kick the Dees’ first goal. Melbourne’s Sarah Lampard (16 touches), who shifted from defence to a wing, picked the best time to put on her kicking boots, nailing her first two goals of the season, while speed merchant Alyssa Bannan added a pair of her own majors. Melbourne’s team defence came up huge, holding the Crows to a score of just 1.1 over the last three quarters after they’d bolted to their three goal, quarter-time lead, and curtailing star tandem Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard to a combined 33 possessions. The Dees’ have locked in a home preliminary final against the winner of the Richmond-North Melbourne semi-final, while Adelaide will host Collingwood next weekend in the other semi-final.

FIRST QUALIFYING FINAL
BRISBANE 5.9 (34) d RICHMOND 3.4 (22)
For the first quarter, the Tigers looked every bit as if they could match it with the dominant Lions, trailing them by a mere two points, but all it took was a dynamic second term for Brisbane to emphatically put its foot down and sail away with this qualifying final. Two of the Lions’ three second-term goals reflected the young Tigers’ inexperience. Cathy Svarc (19 touches, nine tackles) opened the Lions’ account with a set shot after being gifted a 50-metre penalty. Moments later, another Svarc kick to a pack at the top of the square resulted in a loose ball out the back — but while Brisbane’s Sophie Conway played on and kicked the goal after the umpire’s whistle, a group of Tigers paid her no mind, not expecting the umpire to pay advantage. Dakota Davidson’s strong contested mark saw the Lions rack up a three-goal, second-term haul, while holding the Tigers to two behinds. Ally Anderson and Emily Bates each accumulated 21 disposals to lead Brisbane, while Jesse Wardlaw’s first quarter goal makes her the first AFLW player ever to kick 20 goals in a season. Richmond’s Katie Brennan shone in her first AFLW final, kicking a bag of three goals, but the Lions limited superstar Mon Conti to just 15 touches, and kept Brennan’s foil, Courtney Wakefield, goalless. The Lions win locks in a home preliminary final against the Adelaide-Collingwood semi-final winner, while the Tigers’ first loss in nine matches means they’ll host a semi-final against the Kangaroos, against whom they fought out a nail-biting draw only a week ago.

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

FIRST ELIMINATION FINAL
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 (16) d GEELONG 1.8 (14)
They’re merely two blips on Jasmine Garner’s 23-disposal, 11-contested possession, six-clearance, and eight-tackle statline, but it was the newly crowned AFL Coaches Association Most Valuable Player Award winner’s two instrumental one-percenters that saved the Kangaroos’ season from a relentless, but wasteful Cats side in this thrilling elimination final. Garner was crucial in both of North Melbourne’s only two goals of the night — both in the first term. She rebounded from defence with a pinpoint pass to a teammate in the corridor, launching a possession chain culminating in Sophie Abbatangelo’s snapped goal. Later, Garner rolled unmolested off a stoppage inside the Roos’ attacking 50 and by tackling and dispossessing Geelong’s Meghan McDonald produced a crumb teammate Alice O’Loughlin vacuumed, then booted through the big sticks. The Cats took command after Abbatangelo’s goal through a Darcy Moloney set shot, and from there, they played nearly the rest of the match on their terms. Remarkably, the Cats had more than double the number of inside 50s the Roos managed (41-18), but skill errors cost them dearly. Geelong was too predictable in its forward entries, hacking and hoping instead of lowering the eyes, leading to easy intercept marks. When surging forward, the Cats too often handballed to players under the pump, and when they kicked to a teammate’s advantage, the intended target spilled the mark. The last 90 seconds of the Cats’ season ended with the ultimate “almost” moment: a Shelley Scott set shot miss from the forward pocket that would have put her side up by two points. Chloe Scheer then conceded a 50-metre penalty for an overzealous spoiling attempt on a marking Roos player. Geelong’s Amy McDonald was superb, with 23 possessions, but the Roos limited Georgie Prespakis to a quiet 13. For North Melbourne, Amy Smith also starred, laying 17 tackles, and captain Emma Kearney battled through a right knee injury to gather 17 touches. The Roos will again need to summon up every ounce of their strength next weekend for a round 10 repeat showdown with Richmond.

SECOND ELIMINATION FINAL
COLLINGWOOD 5.10 (40) d WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.5 (35)
As it had been all season, when the going got tough, the Bulldogs got going — but in this elimination final, they fell a minute and a straight kick short of conjuring the same magic they pulled off last weekend to snatch victory. The Dogs kicked the last four goals of the match, the last one from Kirsty Lamb, whose massive, dying minutes heroics across the ground almost got her side over the line. But in the end, it was Collingwood defenders Stacey Livingstone and Imogen Barnett intercept marking two deep kicks into their attacking 50 which sealed the match. As for the Magpies’ early offensive exploits, 19-year-old Eliza James — Collingwood’s youngest player — blazed away at the goals and ultimately unleashed nearly all the firepower her side would needed. With an out-of-the-blue bag of four majors, James nearly equalled her season total of five — and would have if not for her spraying a snap in the first minute. The Pies’ wasteful first term, in which they kicked 1.6, was rendered moot by their strong team defence, which held the Dogs scoreless. Gabby Newton provided an answer to the Magpies early in the second term with the first of her two goals on the day after a strong contested mark, but another youngster, 17-year-old Rylie Wilcox, missed a set shot in the dying minutes of the first half, which would have cut the deficit to 10 points. On the day, Katie Lynch was the Doggies’ leading ball-winner with 20 touches, and captain Ellie Blackburn, who was off the ground in the dying minutes, had 16. Collingwood’s Mikala Cann continued her brilliant form with 20 possessions, but as Collingwood now prepares for a semi-final date with Adelaide, it will be sweating on the fitness of defensive star Ruby Schleicher — already entering the match carrying a hip complaint — who exited the match late in the final term with an apparent ankle injury.