Blues break AFLW duck, bank biggest score

Saturday, 16 February 2019:

TAYLA HARRIS of the Allies marks during the AFL Women's State of Origin match between Victoria and the Allies at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
TAYLA HARRIS of the Allies marks during the AFL Women's State of Origin match between Victoria and the Allies at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.


Having spearheaded Carlton's 29-point belting of GWS in Sydney, aspiring boxer Tayla Harris now faces a nervous wait for the AFLW match review officer's assessment of her bump on Pepa Randall.

Harris, who is ranked fifth in the WBA middleweight charts, booted three goals and clutched six marks as the Blues celebrated their first win in more than a year.

Carlton registered their highest score in AFLW history, prevailing 10.5 (65) to 5.6 (36) at Blacktown Oval on Saturday.

Maddy Prespakis rivalled Harris for best-on-ground honours, backing up her Rising Star nomination with three goals and a game-high 21 disposals as Carlton soared to top spot on their conference's ladder.

Harris dominated the contest but conceded a fourth-quarter incident, in which she ran past the ball to collect Randall, "probably looks bad".

"I know Pepa so I'm not going to ... clearly (it was) not intentional. I just hope she's OK," Harris told Seven after the game.

"Being a tall person, these things happen."

The early fear was that Harris hit Randall's head but the GWS defender clutched her shoulder after the contest.

"She got up and played on, didn't come off the ground and was holding her shoulder, so I don't think there's too many issues from Tayla's perspective," Carlton coach Daniel Harford said.

"We're pretty confident Tay did things within the spirit of the game and laws of the game.

"We're not too concerned. Whatever happens, happens."

Giants coach Al McConnell, who hasn't given hope of a miraculous run to the finals despite the 0-3 start, also downplayed the incident.

"I don't think anybody does anything with particular malice. I haven't had a chance to deconstruct it, so not for me to worry about," McConnell said.

Harris was crunched in a third-quarter marking contest, just one week after being a late omission because of a shoulder injury, but allayed fears of a serious setback by grabbing yet another contested mark early in the fourth term.

Harris slotted the resultant sealer from the goal square.

"She's pretty tough Tayla. It takes a lot to ground her, so she was pretty keen to get back out there straight away," Harford said.

Yvonne Bonner, who snapped a goal-of-the-year contender in the second quarter, excelled for the hosts but the Giants' defence was regularly under siege.






AAP






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