MELBOURNE is the first team through to the Season 7 preliminary finals, after a 22-point win in the qualifying final. Things were looking very different at quarter time, with Adelaide having kicked the first three goals and looking like they were going to run away with the game.

However, Melbourne clicked into gear in the second, and never looked back from there. Adelaide had another good quarter in the third and kept things even, but the last quarter saw Melbourne kick away again and earned itself a week off.

TALKING POINTS

Intense tackling pressure

Clashes between Melbourne and Adelaide are often high intensity and a bit fiery, but last night’s tackling pressure from both sides was at a whole new level.

Both sides, particularly after quarter time, played like their season was about to end and just brought an absolutely ferocious level of intensity to the game and to their tackling.

Lampard the goal kicker?

Normally known as a reliable defender, Sarah Lampard has spent some time on the wing this season, and added another string to her bow last night, kicking two very different types of goals but the main things for Melbourne was that it was a goal.

Lampard also had a great game in other ways last night, pushing back into defence and creating a lot of run off half-back.

Bannan’s burst down the wing

One moment from last night’s match Melbourne fans certainly will not be forgetting in a hurry is the run of Alyssa Bannan down the wing.

Early in the second term, Bannan found herself with the ball on defensive 50 and using her trademark pace decided to go for a six bounce run down the wing of Ikon Park, leaving Hannah Button in her trail. Unfortunately for Dees fans it did not result in a goal, as Sarah Allan marked the subsequent kick at the end of the run.

Crows sweating on health of the skipper

Just to rub some salt into the wound of the loss even more for Adelaide, they will now be sweating on the health of skipper Chelsea Randall.

After remarkably coming back from an ankle injury a week earlier than expected, she appeared to have been concussed late in the piece and was visibly angry when she was forced from the field. Crows fans will be waiting with nervous breath over the next few days to see how Randall has pulled up and whether she passed the concussion test or not.

Melbourne’s mental improvement

With the kind of win Melbourne pulled off last night, it will give them an added level of confidence moving forward through this finals series. Not only have they beaten Adelaide in a finals match for the first time, but they were so out of the match early things were not looking good for those in red and blue.

It showed another level of improvement in the mental side of the game for the Dees, and in that situation where they may have dropped their head in years gone past, they did not, and just kept fighting.