DESPITE Carlton leading the game in disposals and uncontested possession, Port Adelaide was better in the contest which held them in good stead throughout Sunday afternoon’s match.

Port Adelaide ran out 35-point winners after a close game early, turned into a convincing win in front of their faithful fans at Alberton Oval.

Port Adelaide’s trademark this season is becoming their contest work, leading the Blues in contested possessions (139 to 125) and contested marking (nine to three).

A key player that exhibited this gameplay was Port Adelaide’s Abbey Dowrick who notched up 21 disposals, a game-high 14 contested possessions as well as seven tackles, seven inside 50s and five score involvements.

When speaking after the loss, Carlton head coach Matthew Buck explained where the game went wrong for his side.

”Their territory game they got us in that one and unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise on our opportunities that we got earlier in the game,” Buck said.

“Obviously coming off a couple of short breaks, the end of the game kind of they came over the top pretty hard.

“It’s a disappointing one but we’ve got to capitalise on those opportunities we get when we get them.”

Another statistic that was damning, for Carlton was its inside 50 count at the end of the game. Port had 40 inside 50s to the Blues’ 24 meant that they didn’t make the most of their share of the ball considering their disposal numbers.

“We’ll go have a good look at that, I think our basic fundamentals were a little bit off today, which certainly didn’t help capitalising on those chains of play that we had to be able to get the ball inside our 50,” Buck said.

When asked how his side is dealing with the condensed portion of their fixture, Buck admits that there are so sore bodies at the Blues, however they are not using that as an excuse for their performance.

“Everyone is going through it so it’s hard for everyone and we’re understanding of that,” he explained.

“Our girls were well prepped for today’s game and our high performance team do an amazing job so yeah we’re sore but I can imagine all the teams are.”

Carlton had a void in their on-field leadership with Kerryn Peterson and Abbie McKay missing their clash with Port Adelaide. McKay was out of the side due to an adductor strain while Peterson is still out with a shoulder sprain.

Buck described some of the highlights for his side after the game.

“We obviously had a bit of a void in our leadership tonight with our captain and vice-captain missing so Keeley Sherar and Mimi Hill put out some really strong performances,” Buck said.

“That was fantastic, I thought they lead from the front and that was a positive.”

After having a tough week losing to both Richmond and North Melbourne in the last nine days, Port Adelaide are looking towards a better portion of their schedule. Notching up their second win, head coach Lauren Arnell hopes this will be the start of a turnaround for her team.

“I’m really proud of the group too, we asked a fair bit of them to open up our offence during the week,” Arnell continued.

“Obviously we’ve played two very good sides in North [Melbourne] and Richmond in the last couple of weeks, and some quick turnarounds too.

“It’s in the condensed space of our fixture so to spin around off the back of that, I think it’s our third game in nine days, and to really open up our offence like that and get off after it, I’m really pleased and proud of the girls.”

Gemma Houghton continued to be a feature of the Port Adelaide forwardline after some quiet games to start the year.

Houghton kicked two goals, had 15 disposals and six score involvements. Arnell spoke about the how the forward unit has played together and how some of those who don’t hit the scoreboard have an unselfish role which helps others.

“‘Teaks’ has been on the end of it a fair bit early in the season, Ash has been working and working and then we’ve got Caitlin Wendland and Justine Mules-Robinson going through as well,” she said.

“I think Gemma the last couple of weeks has really hit her straps and it’s nice to see her hitting the scoreboard.”