THE fighting spirit shown by Carlton in the win over Collingwood on Saturday night was the most pleasing takeaway for senior coach Daniel Harford.

It was a final-quarter thriller at Ikon Park, with the Blues heading into the final change trailing their traditional rivals by 10 points. 

A piece of vintage Darcy Vescio magic in the dying stages of the match gave Carlton the late lead and ultimately the victory.

While the Vescio goal may have been the big moment in the game, it was the overall performance of the team following the third-quarter blitz by the Pies which was ultimately the difference. 

Harford praised his side for their ability to implement the game plan, hold composure and step-up to the pressure — something he believes is growing amongst the group.

“It was a bit stressful but, in the end, what we set-up in that last quarter to try and rectify the problem worked pretty well,” Harford said following the win.

“We need to focus on what we can control.

“That’s one of the things that we try and do is narrow the focuses to what our job is. Any quarter, any moment, any game. 

“I think that’s the best way forward for the girls to identify how to get better rather than worry about external factors that don’t really come into the conversation. 

“We’ve got to worry about what we’ve got to do, and execute that correctly which we did in the last quarter.”

Captain Bri Davey - who once again took lead from the front finishing with 20 disposals - echoed these sentiments to the team during three-quarter time, encouraging the team to focus on the simple factors which they could control.

“It’s just competing and the simple things. I find when we don’t do the simple things, that’s when we sort of find ourselves out of the game,” Davey said.

“As soon as we start doing the simple things right, it just makes a massive difference to how we play. It sounds simple, but it’s literally those things.

“It’s simple errors that we need to push out of the game and not let teams hurt us on the way back.”

Star forward Tayla Harris fought off a week of heavy scrutiny to deliver an important performance in front of goal.

Harris’ impact on the night may not be reflected directly on the stats sheet, but her presence in the forward line unnerved opposition defenders, as she moved, marked and tackled with authority.

There was some concern for Harris, who spent some time on the bench receiving treatment on her shoulder in the third quarter. However, Harford is confident that she will be right to go come next week.

“She’s ok, whatever they did to her was ok because she came back on before three-quarter time,” he said. 

“No issue with Tay, she’s fine at the moment.

“We expect no problems because she was able to complete the game.”

 The Blues will now shift their focus to a crucial contest against the Brisbane Lions next week.

Last night’s win sees Carlton move narrowly ahead of the Lions in the Conference B standings, and a win next week is a must if the Blues want to lock in a finals berth. 

For Harford, however, the focus this week will remain much the same: building on the girls’ confidence and finding a way to hit the ground running from the first bounce.

“That’s the challenge for us, to find a trigger every week now,” said Harford

“We go back to the Giants game and that’s the only game we’ve really played four quarters of footy. 

“We become vulnerable in other games because we have long lapses. We’ve got to try and find a way to make that disappear.

“I think with the evolution of the group and the more time they get out there and spend in the pressure situations and understand moments a bit better, we’ll get better.”