ANOTHER round of VFL Women’s, another round of the leaders of the competition showing why they are on the top of the table.

In this weekend’s match of the round, North Melbourne got their second win in a row, downing Port Melbourne. It was free flowing but low scoring in the opening few minutes, with neither side managing to put a score on the board. 

It took almost 10 minutes for either side to get a score on the board, and it was the Borough with a goal via Jessica Joyce, which was reward for dominating possession early on.   The Borough continued to dominate the territory and possession battle, but just couldn’t convert until the 17 minute mark when Emily Harley booted another major for the home side.

North Melbourne finally got a goal on the board through Elizabeth McGrath a couple of minutes later. That would be the last score of the term as the margin sat at seven points in favour of the Borough at the first change.

It was North Melbourne who dominated the territory and possession game, but it took them over eight minutes for them to finally get a goal on the board, which they did through Sarah Skinner and scores were level again.

The Borough almost responded straight away off the very next centre clearance, but they were not able to convert. Skinner’s goal was ultimately the only one of the term, as the Kangaroos would go on to kick a few more behinds in the second term to take a four point lead into the main break.

North Melbourne would have been ruing its missed chances, as the Roos dominated possession and territory in that second term, but only kicked one goal six to show for it. North Melbourne again did all the attacking in the opening parts of the third term, but they just could not put the goals on the board. They finally got one eight minutes in when Emily Paterno converted after a stellar mark, and suddenly the Kangaroos had an 11-point lead.

Everything was going North Melbourne’s way in the third term. Although they could not get the goals on the board, they were dominating possession and denying the Borough any forward 50 entries or any attacking momentum. Although the Borough got a few late inside 50s, they just could not make it count on the scoreboard.

Paterno’s goal turned out to ultimately be the sole goal of the quarter as the Kangaroos took a ten point lead into the final change. Harley kicked the first goal of the last term for Port Melbourne and the margin was back to four points. Paterno kicked her second minutes later and North stretched their lead back out to 10 points.

Both sides had plenty of time inside their forward 50 late, but just could not put the score on the board. It was just behinds for the remainder of the term as North went on to win by 13 points.

For the Kangaroos, Paterno was particularly impressive in their forward line, finishing with the two majors and creating plenty of chances up forward. Tess Craven also worked hard through the middle and won plenty of the ball.

Meanwhile for the Borough, Akayla Peterson was impressive on the last line of defence, while Olivia Barton also worked hard and won plenty of the ball.

In other results:

• Casey’s undefeated run continued with another comfortable win, this time over Geelong.

The Cats’ only major came in the third term, as the Dees ultimately ran away with the match to take a 43 point win.

Despite the loss, Geelong racked up plenty of the ball, with four Cats racking up over 20 touches, including Laura Gardiner who finished with 39 of them.

The top ball getter for Casey was Eloise O’Connor with 20, while Caitlin Conroy, Tahlia Fellows and Melanie Hogg all booted two majors each.

• Essendon racked up another dominant win, this time over Collingwood.

Despite a slow start which saw the Pies get the early jump, Essendon then clicked into gear and absolutely ran rings around a depleted Pies side.

It was all the usual suspects that dominated for the Bombers, with Georgia Nanscawen and Jordan Zanchetta racking up 26 and 20 touches respectively, while Federica Frew booted four majors, and Renee Tierney booted three.

• Hawthorn continued their good run, downing Williamstown by 49 points.

Although things were tight at quarter time, two goalless quarters from Williamstown saw things balloon out of control for the Seagulls.

Dominique Carbone finished with 26 touches and a goal for the Hawks, while Ruby Tripodi finished on 22 touches for the Seagulls.

Jessie Williams booted three majors for Hawthorn, while Tamara Luke booted two.

• In the battle of the strugglers, it was Carlton who emerged victorious over the Western Bulldogs.  

A scoreless first term was really a sign of what was to come for the Bulldogs, as even though they kept Carlton scoreless for a quarter, they just couldn’t score themselves.

Lily Goss finished with 20 touches for the victors, while Britney Gutknecht finished with 22. Mia Cowan was the only multiple goal kicker on the ground, and she booted two majors.

• The Southern Saints bounced back emphatically from last week’s loss, defeating Darebin by 49 points.

Darebin scored their only goal for the match in the opening term as the Saints ultimately ran away with the match.

Alice Burke and Nicole Callinan finished with 24 touches for their respective sides, while Lucy Burke and Winnie Laing both kicked two majors.