AFTER an incredible fourth quarter comeback, Port Adelaide is through to its first ever AFL Women’s Preliminary Final after defeating Hawthorn by the slimmest of margins last night.

Perhaps still trying to calm the heart rate after the chaos of the final five minutes of the quarter, Power coach Lauren Arnell admitted that it was “all a bit of a blur at this point, to be really honest.”

“What an amazing game of footy,” Arnell said.

“I thought Hawthorn clearly were on top of us for the absolute majority of that game. “I guess the message for our girls is just continue to believe in ourselves and again. “Hawthorn were incredible and I think for Daniel Webster and his group, I know they’ll be really disappointed but I think so much for them to be proud of and another game for us in a final which to be really pleased for them just in the general sense of the competition, that’s the kind of footy you want to watch, hey?”

Port Adelaide had a similar type of win against GWS, but Arnell believes that “the first two years of us being in this competition has been the best preparation” for last night’s match as opposed to that Week 11 match.

“The first thought, and I saw Julia Teakle straight after the game and she copped heaps of heat publicly for the loss we had against the Suns when we gave up heaps of score late in the game last year, and there’s so much learning for our crew and so much belief off the back of some really hard times,” Arnell said.

“It’s the beauty of sport. “You go through some pretty tough stuff and once you go through some hard times and learn the lessons that you need to, you get on to the good end and it feels like that right now.”

Many of the first year Power stars shone in the win, including the likes of Shineah Goody, Molly Brooksby and Piper Window, much to the delight of their coach.

“I think that’s a good shout for Shineah and Molly and Pipes, and I think Pipes is probably the one that gets left out in a lot of the conversations and she was incredible tonight,” Arnell said.

“I think she’s really strong in the contest and I think it’s a picture for the whole group. “There’s been enormous growth for everyone in our team and we just keep challenging them.”

Someone else who shone particularly in the final term was Abbey Dowrick.

“Abbey’s been probably our best mid all year,” Arnell said.

“Certainly in metres gained and she wasn’t feeling at her best all night and to go to her at three quarter time to just say ‘Hey, what else can we do with abs?’

“It wasn’t just my idea, it was certainly from the whole coaching group to go let’s swing her forward and give Piper Window a little bit more time on ball.

“I think it’s more confidence for Abs to know that even when you feel like there’s not much left in the tank, there always is.”