MELBOURNE 1.1 3.5 5.7 6.7 (43) WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.3 1.3 3.4 4.5 (29) Goals: Melbourne: A Mifsud 3 D Berry H Cordner M Hickey. Western Bulldogs: C Clarkson H Wildes J Gardner K McLeod. Best: Melbourne: D. Pearce, K. Paxman, A. Mifsud, E. O'Dea, M. Hickey, S. Scott Western Bulldogs: E. Kearney, E. Blackburn, K. McLeod, H. Scott, A. Gogos Flag favourites two weeks ago after beating Fremantle at the same venue, the Western Bulldogs' hopes of winning the first AFLW premiership are in tatters after they were beaten by Melbourne at the Whitten Oval on Saturday night. Having threatened to break the game open after a dominant second quarter in which they held the Bulldogs scoreless, the Demons withstood a stubborn resistance from the hosts, who kept pegging away in the second half. Melbourne never surrendered the lead after half-time though, and having climbed up off the canvas to beat Collingwood last week are now back in business following their 14-point win over the Dogs. WHY MELBOURNE WON The Bulldogs entered the clash without captain and forward Katie Brennan, who missed the match with an ankle injury after playing the first two games of the season despite discomfort. While that obviously help didn't their cause, more of a concern was Melbourne's ascendancy in the midfield battle. With skipper Daisy Pearce, Elise O'Dea and Karen Paxman all busy, Melbourne easily won the disposal, clearance and inside 50 count. Worries about the Dees' forward line have also been allayed. Former basketballer Alyssa Mifsud was the star inside the arc, kicking three goals to help secure her side's second win of the year. Emma Kearney was again excellent for the Bulldogs, while stand-in captain Ellie Blackburn was also prominent, but there were too few winners for Paul Groves' side. PLAY OF THE GAME With scores level in the second term, Pearce gathered in heavy traffic in the right forward pocket. Despite pressure from Bulldog Aasta O'Connor, Pearce showed her poise to dish off a handball to teammate Deanna Berry, who snapped beautifully from a tight spot to kick the opening major of the term, capitalising on an empty goal square. THE MOMENT Saturday night's match was the first of several double-headers involving both men's pre-season games and AFLW games. It was fitting that these two clubs should be involved given their pioneering role in women's football in recent years. The Demons made things even more special when their men - having only minutes earlier secured a narrow victory over the reigning premiers - again emerged from their change rooms and formed a guard of honour on the field for the Dees women. For a club starved of success in recent times, claiming a pair of away wins on the same day had to be savoured, even if it is only February. WHAT THE RESULT MEANS Consecutive home losses to Adelaide and Melbourne have the Bulldogs needing to win all five of their remaining games, and even then that mightn't be enough to make the grand final. The Dogs are at home next week against winless Collingwood before a tough fortnight with away games against high-flying Carlton and the Brisbane Lions. After their surprise loss to the Lions in round one, Melbourne should have plenty of confidence when they return home to Casey Fields to face the Blues in what shapes as another important clash next Saturday. GWS 0.0 2.0 5.0 7.1 (43) d Fremantle 1.3 3.5 5.5 6.7 (43) Goals: GWS: McWilliams 2, Barclay, Brush, Nguyen, Schmidt, Walker. Fremantle: Sharp 3, Phillips, Barr, Donnellan. Best: GWS: Tomkins, Swanson, Brush, Barclay, Farrugia, Tully. Fremantle: Filocamo, Sharp, Donnellan, Bentley, O'Sullivan Injuries: GWS: Nil. Fremantle: Haynes (shoulder), Davidson (ankle) Crowd: 4000 The Giants and Fremantle Dockers played out the first AFL Women's draw in a thriller at Blacktown, after a uniform clash forced GWS to leave the field at quarter-time and change into charcoal shorts. Players from both sides slumped to the ground at Blacktown International Sportspark when the siren blasted with the scores at 43 points apiece after Aimee Schmidt had levelled things up for the home side with two minutes on the clock. But the best game so far of the AFL Women's competition had a bizarre twist in the first quarter when it emerged Fremantle had packed the wrong playing kit, meaning players from both sides looked almost identical from behind. A Giants official was forced to make a mad dash to the club's base at Homebush and pick up the alternative shorts given the Dockers had flown five hours to Sydney carrying the wrong colours. The league informs each club of their uniform requirements during the week, and will investigate the incident on Monday to determine whether any action will be taken against Fremantle. Neither Giants coach Tim Schmidt nor his Dockers counterpart Michelle Cowan believed the colour clash affected the game, and both were left to rue missed opportunities which could have given their respective teams a first win of the season. "There were definitely some positives that came out of it and there were definitely some frustrating parts as well," Schmidt said. "Our first half was quite poor but to the girls' credit, the second half they really responded to what we said at half-time. "It's a real learning exercise for the girls and we'll look at the tape and go through a lot of stuff. It's a valuable lesson." Cowan's team, which had dominated to half-time, missed too many opportunities to put the game out of reach. "Statistically we do pretty well, in contested possession we're up by 15, our clearances we're up by 12, tackles we're up by 10, inside 50s we're up by 14 – and you draw the game," Cowan said. "Footy's about key moments and key opportunities. You've got to take those opportunities, the inside 50s 33 to 19, get your opportunities to score it's pretty important to finish. Just key moments throughout the game and in that fourth quarter cost us." Fremantle lost two players to injury in the bruising encounter, Tiah Haynes forced off with a dislocated left shoulder after a crunching tackle by Jacinda Barclay before Cassie Davidson was helped from the ground late on with an ankle problem. They jumped the Giants and led by nine at the first change with the home side still scoreless, but the change of shorts just about sparked them into life. GWS kicked a couple in the second term but were lucky the margin was only 11 at the break with Fremantle peppering the goal, unsuccessfully for the most part. The game exploded in the third quarter with Barclay kicking a crucial goal before her bullocking tackle on Haynes. Renee Tomkins was immense in the back half for GWS while Ellie Brush imposed herself in the middle of the ground in a superb performance. Both teams had their chances to win the game in the last quarter but had to settle for the draw. BRISBANE LIONS 1.2  2.2  3.2  4.3 (27) d COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES 0.0  0.4  2.4  3.5 (23) Goals: Brisbane Lions: K McCarthy 2, E Zielke, S Frederick-Traub. Collingwood Magpies: J Cameron, S Chiocci, S D'Arcy
