SIX unanswered first quarter goals set up a 26-point win for Naarm (Melbourne) over St Kilda in Round 3 of the AFL Women’s yesterday. In a strange twist, the Saints booted a goal in each of the final three quarters, while keeping the potent Demons goalless en route to a 6.10 (46) to 3.2 (20) victory. Naarm coach Mick Stinear said he was pleased with the way his side got going, but was less settled after quarter time.

“I think we wanted to start well, we wanted to be strong around the contest. I feel like we achieved that, and then we didn’t really adjust after that,” Stinear said. “Certainly their contest game and their pressure lifted. We just kept trying to force things rather than think our way through it. It was good. For most of those last three quarters, we still had good time in our forward half so there was a lot still going right, we just weren’t thinking our way through and creating scoring opportunities.

“We need to get better at reward for effort. A lot right, but it would have been a frustrating game to watch and the players were a little bit flat after the game. Pleased to get the win, but felt like they could have done a little bit more, but Saints definitely upped the game and we didn’t quite adjust to their tackle pressure.”

The past fortnight the Demons have booted 9.18 (72), showing how many more goals they could have kicked given their scoring shots inside 50. While inaccuracy was an issue, Stinear said it was more about the shot range and method of scoring that changed in the win over St Kilda.

“I think early on we had a lot of set shots, so marks inside forward 50 and going back and converting which was good,” he said. “There was four or five rushed on the line, potentially where we’re having our shots from and then as I just said it felt like we were just forcing things rather than .. we got some good looks on re-entry, so our forward were putting good pressure on.

“Our backs and mids were sitting back and able to get the turnover but then we sort of just sent it back where it came from rather than changing a lane and getting a better look at goal. We’re happy with our contest game for today, but we’ve got some work to do on rewarding the hard work off the back of it.”

Stinear said while some might see the last three quarters as a worrying sign, the Naarm coach said it was more about the “contest work”. Against North Melbourne, he said the contest work was “a bit up and down” and instead saw the effort against St Kilda as “progress”.

“Today we wanted to base everything around the way we competed, then to hunt the ball when the opposition had it,” Stinear said. “We felt like we were more predictable in that space, but there’s some work to be done. But if we can keep that to being the core part of our game and what we bring each week then we’ve got six or seven weeks to keep trying to get the other parts of our game in good shape. We feel as though the contest got us the result, but certainly some work to be done.”

Next week the Demons take on fellow undefeated side Brisbane at Casey Fields on Sunday to close out Round 4. When asked if playing a fellow premiership contender added extra pressure, Stinear said that’s what the club “signs up for”.

“We want to be the best in the competition each year,” Stinear said. “I think there’s a number of teams who are undefeated at the moment. We’ve got plenty of things to work on with our game and we’ve got Brisbane in seven days time and they’re in great shape and they’re playing great footy. It will be a good contest for both teams, and I know they’ll be disappointed the last couple of times we’ve played so we’re expecting a red-hot contest.”