THE AFL has acknowledged a goal umpiring mistake cost Sydney a crucial goal in its four-point loss to Essendon on Saturday.

Defender Molly Eastman's set shot with 5min 20sec remaining in the third term was judged a behind to the obvious confusion and dismay of the Swans players.

Had Eastman's shot been called a goal, the Swans would have gone ahead by two points in the tight contest.

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Swan's surprise after shot is ruled a behind

Sydney defender Molly Eastman's shot at goal is called a behind by the goal umpire against Essendon

The winless Swans eventually lost the match, 7.6 (48) to 7.2 (44), with the game being the team's best chance for a win since their four-point loss to Hawthorn earlier in the season.

The AFL provided the following statement:

"We acknowledge that a mistake was a made during the third quarter in Sydney and Essendon game on the weekend. After communicating this with Sydney the AFL thanks the Swans for their understanding.

"In this particular instance, a goal should have been signalled.

"Overall, the umpires did a terrific job officiating across round eight."

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The ARC and goal reviews that are used in the AFL men's competition are not employed in the AFLW, with the sheer number of grounds used in the competition an issue.

For example, Adelaide and Port Adelaide's men's sides usually only play home games at Adelaide Oval, while the women's sides have played across Norwood, Unley, Glenelg, Alberton and Adelaide Ovals in the space of just eight rounds.

"At the moment we don't have the infrastructure to have score review across all venues," an AFL spokesperson said.

"We will continue to investigate this going forward."

Sydney will close out its maiden season with games against the injury-hit Fremantle and Geelong.