Essendon VFLW’s inaugural Anzac Day game has ended in a 10-point loss to the undefeated Collingwood on Sunday. 

The Bombers led the second-placed Magpies for the first half but couldn’t maintain their lead to the final siren, with Collingwood running away with a 5.8 (38) to 4.4 (28) win at the NEC Hangar.

Contests were tight from the opening bounce with neither side conceding any space, but the Bombers managed to control the game early with the majority of the play positioned in their forward half. 

The Bombers’ forwards put their opposition under pressure early but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard, scoring three behinds before converting their first major through Mia-Rae Clifford.

The Magpies answered quickly to the Bombers’ early dominance to score their first goal, but Cecilia McIntosh fought hard to stop any opportunity for consecutive majors with strong contested marks across the backline. 

After a tight first quarter, both teams continued their high-level intensity into the second term with Eloise Ashley-Cooper fighting hard through the midfield to get the ball into space.  

Both teams struggled to project the ball forward, resulting in only the one behind being scored for the Magpies, and the Bombers taking a two-point lead into half-time.

Returning from the main break, the Magpies hit the board early in the third term to score consecutive goals and take the lead for the first time.

The Bombers lifted after a chase-down tackle from Felicity Theodore, with her effort inspiring an after-the-siren goal to Clifford - her second major - to reduce the Magpies’ lead to five points heading into the last quarter. 

Clifford continued her dominance up forward, scoring her third major within the opening minutes of the third term and further reducing the margin to two points. 

As the contest heated up, the Magpies had to fight hard to hit the board again with Eloise Gardner and Kendra Heil standing strong across the Bombers’ backline. 

But Collingwood managed to break down the bombers defence with consecutive mid-quarter goals to further extend its lead.

The Bombers broke the run of the Magpies with a snap from Emma Mackay, but the deficit was too much with Collingwood holding on for a 10-point win.

Leadership group member Mia-Rae Clifford said although the loss was “a heart breaker”, there were lots of positives that will benefit the Bombers heading into the last part of the season. 

“We knew Collingwood were going to throw everything at us so it was a really good challenge for us coming into the back end of the season and I think it could have been anyone’s game at the end of the day,” Clifford said. 

“Unfortunately today it went their way, but taking the positives out of that and knowing that we only have a few things to tweak is a real positive moving forward.

“I believe in all the girls in the team, and I know the coaching staff do, so we are just that one per cent away from cracking open the top-two sides.”

When the game was in the balance, the Bombers stayed focused and fought hard, something Clifford said was a key learning from their round one loss to the Southern Saints. 

“Ever since round one when we came up against the Saints, I think after that game we’ve had a massive focus on always staying in the game and being in every contest, so today was no different,” she said. 

“The girls have come a long way since round one and I think we are mentally always in it and we never drop our heads. That’s our number one rule and we always pick each other up so that will never change for the rest of the season.” 

Although Clifford starred with three goals, she attributed the team’s ability to push Collingwood to the work done by the backline. 

“Our backline, they’ve been solid throughout the whole year; the intercept marking by ‘C-Bomb’ (Cecilia McIntosh), spoiling from Nicole (Julian), ‘Logger’ (Eloise Gardner) gets up in the air, ‘Kenny’s’ (Kendra Heil) ferocity at the ball, ‘Morcs’ (Alex Morcom) reading of the play as it comes to the ground,” Clifford said.

“I’m not going to single out one person but I’m going to say the whole back collectively, they’re always put under pressure and I’m so grateful to have them on my team.”

The Bombers will turn their focus to returning to the winners list when they face eighth-placed Carlton on Saturday, in their first game at Windy Hill for the season. 

ESSENDON 1.3 1.3 2.4 4.4 (28)
COLLINGWOOD 1.0 1.1 3.3 5.8 (38) 

Goals: Clifford 3, Mackay

Best: McIntosh, Ashley-Cooper, Clifford, Davies, Gardner, Heil