NORTH Melbourne has squared their season ledger at two wins and two losses, after downing Geelong by two goals in Launceston last night to kick off Round 4 of the AFL Women’s.

In a vey wet and at times low scoring affair, North Melbourne made better use of their opportunities in front of goal and survived a late Geelong run to take care of the Cats. The Roos ended up winning 4.4 (28) to 2.4 (16).

TALKING POINTS

Geelong did not make the most of their opportunities early

Geelong had more of the ball in the opening half of the first quarter and the third quarter and had plenty of opportunities to score in that time period but just could not. North then really responded and locked it in their forward half and although their inside 50 efficiency was not high, it was locked inside their forward half and they were actually putting some score on the board.

North found a way to penetrate the Geelong defence

In the first three rounds Geelong’s opponents have really struggled to penetrate the Cat’s tough defence, but North certainly found a way to do that tonight. North coach Darren Crocker said that they had to adapt because of the conditions, but the aim was for their forwards to play higher and then get them out the back.

Another stellar showing from an Irish Roo

Despite having a delayed start to preseason, Vikki Wall is proving to be a true natural at Aussie rules. The Irish star had arguably her best game of her short AFLW career to date, finishing with 10 touches, three tackles, two goals and proving to be one dangerous target up forward.

Usual suspects star for North

North’s usual suspects in their midfield all played a starring role in the win. Jasmine Garner (22 disposals), Emma Kearney (20 touches) and Ash Riddell (26 touches) all created a lot of run through the midfield, and were well fed from the ball up by Kim Rennie (20 hit outs).

Annabel Johnson is underrated

Particularly early on in the match, Annabel Johnson showed why she is such an underrated defender in this competition. She played a crucial role in defence for Geelong and had nine disposals in the first quarter alone. At times all the discussions of Geelong’s defence is about Meghan McDonald, but people need to remember to not forget Johnson in a hurry.