IN Round 3 of the 2022 VFL Women’s season, the game of the round saw the Casey Demons earn another good win, this time over North Melbourne to keep their undefeated record intact.

The first half was a close affair, with the Kangaroos really taking it up to the more highly fancied Dees. The margin at both quarter time and half time was a mere eight points in favour of the Dees.

They call the third quarter the premiership quarter for a reason, and the third term saw the Dees really blow the Kangaroos out of the water. A three goal to one term saw the margin blow out to 20 points.

By the time the final quarter played out, the gap was just too great for North to bridge. Neither side actually scored a goal in the final term and in the end, it was a 20-point win to the Dees.

The wind wreaked absolute havoc for both sides all game. The usual wind down the Berwick-Cranbourne Road end was stronger then normal, which made it particularly difficult to score goals up that end.

It was also quite a bruising encounter, with several players having to be helped off the ground due to injury.

For the Dees, Maeve Chaplin went down in a contest and received a heavy head knock. She was stretchered off the ground with full neck protection.

Meanwhile for the Roos, Jennifer Guy and captain Molly Eastman were both helped off the ground by trainers with unidentified leg injuries.

Injuries aside, Melbourne’s Megan Fitzsimon and Lauren Magee were impressive in their first games back in the VFLW for a while.

Fitzsimon in particular was stellar in the forward line, using her pace to her advantage and creating plenty of chances for her team. She finished with 19 touches and a goal. Magee’s run off half-back and pace to burn was very good, and got the Dees out of a few sticky situations.

Meanwhile for the Roos, Daisy Bateman and Alexia Hamilton were impressive. Hamilton, who was a strong marking target at both ends of the ground, did not seem to drop a mark all day.

IN OTHER RESULTS:

Hawthorn bounced back from last week’s result with a thrashing of Darebin. The Hawks were clinical and kept Darebin goalless all afternoon.

The top disposal getter for the Hawks was Aimee Whelan with 26, while Nicole Garner and Lauren Szigeti both finished with 23. Meanwhile for the Falcons, Nicole Callinan and Gena Lawson-Tavan finished with 17 touches each.

The goal kickers for the Hawks were Jessie Williams with four, Kristy Stratton with three and singles to Dominique Carbone and Szigeti.

Down at Geelong, it was another comfortable win to the Cats, this time over Port Melbourne, whose season is going from bad to worse. Much like the Hawks, the Cats kept their opponents goalless all afternoon and were just too dominant.

For the Cats, their top ball getter was Paige Sheppard with 26 touches, while Melissa Bragg kicked four goals in the win. Meanwhile for the Borough, Sophie Locke backed up her great game from last week with another one, this time racking up 21 touches.

The Western Bulldogs’ season continues to downhill, this time losing to the Southern Saints. The Saints kept the Bulldogs scoreless for half the game on their way to a 38-point win – their second of the season.

For the Saints, Isabella Shannon finished with 28 touches, while Leah Cutting finished with 25. Meanwhile for the Bulldogs, Lucy Schneider finished with 25 touches and Jaimee-Lee Morrow had 21.

Both sides had a multiple goalkicker. For the Saints, it was Shannon who kicked two, while for the Bulldogs it was Mary Sandral who kicked three.

Collingwood recorded another good win, this time over Williamstown. The Pies led all day and ultimately went on to win by 20 points. Caitlin Bunker really gave a captain’s performance for the Pies, finishing with 23 touches. Meanwhile, Sharnie Whiting was the main ball winner for the Seagulls with 17. Imogen Barnett was the only multiple goalkicker on the ground with three to her name.

Essendon had another great win, this time over Carlton. The Blues only kicked one goal in the opening three terms, whereas Essendon kicked 11 in the same period, ultimately going on to win by 52 points.

For the Bombers, Amelia Radford and Georgia Nanscawen were again ball magnets, finishing with 24 and 21 disposals respectively. Meanwhile for the Blues, Lily Goss was their main ball winner with 19 touches.

In front of goals, Federica Frew had a field day, kicking six majors. She was ably assisted by Renee Tierney with three goals, while Grace Dicker kicked two. Meanwhile for the Blues, Imogen Milford kicked three of the Blues’ four goals.