NORTH Melbourne has had a VFL Women’s finals debut to remember, thrashing Essendon by 63 points to move within one win of a spot in the Grand Final.

The Kangaroos were a class above the Bombers all afternoon, with Essendon likely to rue a number of missed opportunities.

Despite the result, Essendon achieved the ideal start as Sarah Perkins kicked truly to register the opening goal of the game.

North Melbourne duly responded only a matter of minutes later when Maddie Di Cosmo snuck out the back of a pack to kick the Roos’ first major of the match.

After two goals were scored in the opening four minutes, it took almost another 10 minutes for either side to notch another.

But when it rains, it pours, and the Kangaroos scored two in two minutes as Nyakoat Dojiok and Audrey Rhodes hit the scoreboard.

They proved to be the last two goals of the quarter as the Roos took a 13-point lead into the first change and were already looking on the front foot.

Intercepts began to pile up for both sides and much of the second quarter saw the ball ping between the 50m arcs.

The first goal of the term finally came in the 11^th minute when the Roos were able to get a deep enough forward 50 entry and Renee Tierney pounced to slot a six-pointer.

Dojiok then bagged her second in the final minute of the half to give her side a 26-point lead heading into the main break. The Bombers certainly had their chances to score in the second term but could not make them count.

Quarter number three was where North Melbourne really blew the game open.

The Roos were also quick off the mark in the third term, with Georgia Nicholas slotting through the side’s sixth major for the afternoon inside the opening 90 seconds of the quarter.

North Melbourne began show its class, with the Bombers struggling to find any easy path of transition down the field.

Tahlia Meier then joined in on the goalscoring fun with her first for the game and things were starting to get dire for the Bombers.

One player who proved hard to stop for Essendon was Dojiok, whose strong contested work and marking stood out. She slotted her third goal of the match through halfway through the third term.

Perkins was also proving tough to out-mark up the other end but was not getting anywhere near the same amount of opportunities as Dojiok.

The star Bomber did manage to ram home a goal minutes after Dojiok’s major, but it proved to be only a small glimmer of joy for the Bombers as Dojiok and Elisha King gave the Roos two more goals for the quarter and saw their lead sit at almost 60 points heading into the final term.

Although the scoring for the Kangaroos lightened in the final term, unfortunately for the Bombers their own scoring did not increase at all. Tierney and Matilda Zander added one more goal each to the scoreboard as the Bombers were once again kept scoreless and are now out of the finals race.

NORTH MELBOURNE 3.1 | 5.2 | 10.2 | 12.4 (76)
ESSENDON 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 (13)

GOALS:

North Melbourne: N. Dojiok 4, R. Tierney 2, M. Zander, A. Rhodes, G. Nicholas, T. Meier, E. King, M. De Cosmo
Essendon: S. Perkins 2

BEST:

North Melbourne: A. Barba, M. Di Cosmo, N. Dojiok, A. Rhodes, T. Meier, R. Tierney
Essendon: B. Hunt, E. Chaston, S. Orritt, S. Perkins, L. Bateman, A. Melnikas