PORT Adelaide ended its 2023 AFL Women’s season on a massive high, comfortable beating GWS by almost 10 goals. It was a fitting way to send off retiring skipper and league legend Erin Phillips, who topped off her final game with a goal in front of her beloved Alberton faithful.

However, the win was set up by a strong first half from the Power, which they built on in the second half and ultimately helped them run away with the match.

In both the first and second quarter the disposal count was about even between the teams, but Port managed to dominate key stats, which helped them propel forward on the scoreboard.

First, they dominated the inside 50 count. They were plus-seven in the category at quarter time, and that margin had doubled by the time half-time rolled around.

In addition to that, up the other end the Power’s defensive pressure was so strong they were putting a lot of perceived pressure on the Giants, who were wasteful when they went into attack. The Giants had plenty of useable opportunities inside forward 50, but were wasteful when trying to find targets thanks to that perceived pressure. The Power particularly dominated the inside 50 efficiency stat in the first term, finishing plus-14.2 per cent at quarter time.

Port’s lead in the hitouts in the first half was not overly big, plus-4 and plus-5 in the first and second quarters respectively, but the clearances is where the game was won. The Power were plus-8 in overall clearances at quarter time, but then plus-13 at half-time.

This domination in the clearances spilt into other areas. Domination in the clearances saw the Power finish with a better disposal efficiency in both quarters (plus-2.2 per cent and plus-1.7 per cent respectively), which then lead to more inside 50s and ultimately more shots on goal.

Port’s usual suspects dominated as Abbey Dowrick had 14 touches in the first half, Ashleigh Saint had 10 touches and three goals, and after a pretty quiet game last week, Gemma Houghton really stood up, finishing the first half with 10 disposals and two goals.

Perhaps spurred on by wanting to send Phillips off on a high or it being the last game of the season, Port gave a performance to remember for its fans. Although it was not the most of difficult opponents they had to face, they can still take a lot from that performance heading into next season.