North, Geelong play out draw after Cats stage comeback

Failing to get "over the line" had extra meaning for Geelong in their bruising AFLW draw with North Melbourne. Remarkably, the Cats women remain winless against the Kangaroos after they scored 5.6 (36) apiece on Sunday in wet and windy conditions at Arden St. Midway through the frenetic final quarter, Geelong's Mikayla Bowen had a shot at goal that looked certain to go through. But the ball somehow bounced straight up off the goal line and North defender Libby Birch was able to clear it without the Cats scoring. With little more than two minutes left, Bowen then kicked the goal that tied the scores. "We just didn't get that rub of the green, did we?," Cats coach Dan Lowther said of Bowen's earlier shot not going through. "I'm looking forward to the new ball chip technology, to see if it went over the line - out of desperation. "We'll take it (the draw). Not happy with it, but positive steps forward for us. "We're getting closer and closer. We just haven't gotten over the line." The Cats were left to rue two red-time goals for North late in the second term, after Geelong had done much of the attacking in the first half. The Kangaroos went into the long break with a three-goal lead. Aishling Moloney's two third-term goals helped bridge the gap for the Cats, before Nina Morrison's goal at the start of the final term put them in front for the only time in the game. Kate Shierlaw then put North back in front with a goal, with Jasmin Garner's behind giving the Kangaroos a six-point lead before Bowen kicked the final score of the game. Cats midfielder Amy McDonald was best afield, racking up 13 of their 27 clearances to negate North's supremacy in the ruck. While North had more clearances, contested possessions and tackles, the Cats won the inside 50s 36-25, contributing to Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker's frustrations. "It just felt (like) Geelong had it on their terms, especially in the second half, a lot more than we did," Crocker said. "It morphed into a real territory game and we struggled with that; they benefitted off that. "It isn't the way we want to play. We want to be able to adapt, no matter what the opposition throw at us, no matter what the conditions may be. "We felt that we didn't adapt that well today." Garner (32 possessions) and Ash Riddell (30) were the pick of the Kangaroos, while Emma Kearney was solid as always in defence. The draw follows Geelong's two-point loss to Melbourne in round one.