ON a weekend of late fightbacks, things are really tightening up when it comes to the VFLW.

With one win separating first and sixth, and half a game separating sixth and seventh, there are still so many different ways the season could ultimately go.

One of the late fightbacks over the weekend was on Saturday afternoon, which saw Casey breathe some life back into its season with a one-goal win over Williamstown.

A good start to the game is what ultimately helped Casey over the line and survive a dogged Williamstown last-quarter fightback.

Casey dominated possession and territory early and was rewarded early with a goal inside three minutes off the boot of Brooke Borchard.

Teagan Williams had Casey’s second only minutes later and all of a sudden, the Dees were out to a handy lead.

The Seagulls were able to get the ball into their forward line a couple of times in the middle part of the term but rarely looked like scoring as the Dees’ defenders were able to pick off their inside 50s with relative ease.

Finally, Sharnie Whiting broke through for Williamstown’s first goal, but it was almost 14 minutes into the quarter by the time she did so.

This was quickly countered by Casey booting its third goal of the term, this time off the boot of debutant Sophie Butterworth, to restore its two goal buffer.

With one more behind the only further score for the quarter from either side, Casey took an 11 point lead into the first change.

Casey again dominated territory early in the second term, and with Tylah Burn’s third minute major, the lead grew once again.

As the quarter progressed towards the middle stages Williamstown began to get some time in its forward 50, but they could not make it count on the scoreboard and one costly 50m penalty undid all their hard work.

It was not long before the ball was back in Williamstown’s forward line though and Sophie Damon slotted one through to finally get Williamstown a second goal on the board.

There was to be one more goal for the quarter, and with Bridie Kennedy kicking Williamstown’s third of the game the margin was back to only four points at half time and the game had tightened up drastically.

Both sides peppered their respective goals early in the third quarter, but could not find a way to slot through a major.

It took almost 10 minutes for either side to slot a major, and it finally came off the boot of Claire Keohane which extended Casey’s lead back out to two goals.

Mere minutes later, Casey had a second for the term as Jemma Rigoni booted a 40m kick to slot her first VFLW goal through.

Although they had ample chances, Williamstown ultimately could not put any majors on the board in the third term in the end, and as such found itself 17 points down at the final change.

It did not take long for Williamstown to boot the first goal of the last term, with Sarah Cameron slotting her first through inside the opening two minutes.

Casey continued to pepper the goals for much of the first half of the last term, but with the Seagulls’ defence holding up strong the Dees’ hard work was not proving fruitful.

Williamstown then ran down the other end, scored a goal via Teagan Brett, and all of a sudden, the margin was a mere goal and Williamstown were looking like it was about to charge towards an upset win.

However, that was to be the end of the Seagull resurgence.

Both sides really lifted their defensive game and scoring got harder than it had ever been all game. Both sides kicked only one more behind each for the rest of the game, so the margin was still at one goal when the final siren went.

In other results:

• Carlton earned a big win, downing the Bulldogs by six goals.

After both teams started slowly, it was the second half that really saw the Blues kick away to take the win.

Some of the big ball winners for the game included Chloe Wrigley (23 touches) and Tahlia Meier (20 touches).

• Essendon picked up a handy win over rivals Box Hill, downing the Hawks by 17 points.

Despite Box Hill kicking the first goal of the match, but that would be the only one they would kick as Essendon kicked away after that.

Olivia Manfre booted two majors for the Bombers, while Amelia Radford (29 disposal) and Jordan Mifsud (22 disposals) led the way in the disposals count for their respective sides.

• In a close encounter in Sandringham, it was the Saints who narrowly prevailed by three points over Port Melbourne.

It was only a point the difference at three quarter time, but with no goals coming in the last term it was the Saints’ inaccurate kicking that helped them over the line.

Emily Harley and Gabriella De Angelis both booted two majors for their respective sides, while Winnie Laing (23 disposals) and Olivia Barton (18 disposals) led their sides in the disposal count.

• Geelong broke away from Darebin late to take a 29 point win.

In a low scoring clash, it took the Cats until the second half to pull away and take the win.

Breanna Pratt kicked two of Geelong’s goals, while Abby Favell (28 disposals) and Angelica Gogos (22 disposals) were the top two ball winners on the field.

• Collingwood has fought off a resurgent North Melbourne to take the win.

The Pies dominated up until three quarter time before North rallied and kicked six goals to none in the last term. Unfortunately for North that was not enough as Collingwood took the win.

There were plenty of multiple goal kickers across both sides, with Jessica Bates, Monique DeMatteo, Sophia McCarthy, Emily Paterno and Audrey Rhodes all booting two majors each.