West Coast Eagles no match for Port Adelaide Power in AFLW clash at Mineral Resources Park

West Coast’s finals hopes have taken a hit and they are in danger of falling out of the AFLW top eight by the end of the weekend following a 13-point loss to Port Adelaide.

The Eagles entered the home game at Mineral Resources Park filled with optimism but had no answers to the Power’s strength after quarter time and lost 7.7 (49) to 5.6 (36).

“They lifted their intensity and we just missed the jump and didn’t go with them in that second quarter,” West Coast coach Daisy Pearce said.

“What was disappointing was they just started outworking us for a good 10-15 minute period. They were getting first hands on the ball, taking the ball forward, putting our backs under a lot of pressure. Then when we were able to win the ball back, because we lost our way a bit, we became a bit unpredictable to each other when we had the ball and invited more of their chaos and surge game.”

West Coast will now watch on nervously as Essendon plays Gold Coast on Sunday knowing that a Bomber win will cost them their position in the eight ahead of a tough clash with Hawthorn next weekend.

The Eagles looked good early as Ella Roberts produced a stunning first quarter. She had 11 disposals and one goal as Port Adelaide struggled to get the ball past her. She kept winning the ball in the air and setting up teammates, while the contested mark which set up her goal summed up her game.

“She was incredible,” Pearce said..

“Opposition are going to keep putting time into her. The great thing about Ella is she’s a competitor. She takes all that in her stride and sees it as a compliment. Her ability to impact as a forward and mid makes like dfficilt in terms of finfing a match up for her. Her first quarter was unbelievable.”

West Coast held Port Adelaide scoreless in the first quarter to open up a 19-point lead, but Port dominated territory in the second term with 16 inside 50s to one and rattled the Eagles.

Gemma Houghton gave the Power a presence inside 50 and Roberts had only one touch for the term for the Eagles and nothing went right.

Zoe Wakfer bizarrely chose to roll the ball back to Caitlin Wendland after a free kick in the centre square and she made the Eagles pay with a goal from the 50m penalty.

Pearce said that moment was an example of how little moments cost the Eagles during the day.

“We have been educating on those. We call it securing the ball or game awareness. IT’s just being able to identity when the game demands a bit of control and a bit of a deep breath and how we can create that for each other.”

When Ash Saint kicked a goal on the half-time siren after a free kick for holding the ball, Port Adelaide led by one point.

The Power ramped up the pressure with two quick goals to start the third term. as Justine Mules-Robinson made the Eagles pay.

She kicked a classy goal from near the boundary line and followed up with another snap under pressure to give the visitors to 14-point lead.

West Coast fought hard from there for no reward but got the crucial goal they needed when Abbygail Bushby converted a set shot after the three quarter time siren to make it an eight-point game.

Port Adelaide made a damaging start to the final term though and when they surged to a 20-point lead, the result was beyond doubt.

PORT ADELAIDE 0.0, 3.2, 5.5, 7.7 (49)

WEST COAST 3.1, 3.1, 4.3, 5.6 (36)

Goals – PORT ADELAIDE: C Wendland 2 J Mules-Robinson 2 G Houghton 2 A Saint WEST COAST: L Wakfer R Roux E Roberts I Lewis A Bushby

Best – PORT ADELAIDE: G Houghton A Dowrick M Scholz C Wendland E O’Dea J Mules-Robinson WEST COAST: E Roberts I Lewis C Thomas E Swanson

Crowd: TBC at Mineral Resources Park