CARLTON marquee signing Darcy Vescio booted two goals as her team slammed home six unanswered goals in the final term to crush Melbourne by 43 points in Saturday's NAB AFL Women's practice match at Ikon Park.
Leading by eight points over the Demons at the final change, the Blues got rolling in the final quarter and made their opportunities count.
Rookie Nat Exon also booted two majors in the 8.4 (52) to 1.3 (9) victory, while Bianca Jakobsson, pick No.3 in last year's women's draft, also added a goal to the tally.
"The result is really pleasing so early on and gives us great reward for effort, however, we're under no illusions to the fact that there's a lot more work to be done before round one," Carlton women's coach Damien Keeping told carltonfc.com.au.
"The work rate was really significant on the back of a hard pre-season building a strong fitness base to finish games well. The perseverance to find a way to get on top after being challenged early on was terrific."
Aliesha Newman booted Melbourne's solitary goal and vice-captain Mel Hickey said her team would learn plenty from the hit-out.
"It was definitely a quick game. It gave us a taste of what 16-a-side is probably going to bring in the AFL Women's season. We’re pretty disappointed with the result on the scoreboard, but there are heaps and heaps of things for us to work on," Hickey told melbournefc.com.au.
"They (Carlton) really pulled away in the last quarter, so it was probably a lapse in concentration. It was our first game and we dropped off a bit in the last quarter and we weren't able to hang in."
Carlton opens its AFLW campaign in the opening match of the competition against Collingwood on February 3. The Demons play the Brisbane Lions on February 5.
Meanwhile, despite two goals from impressive 18-year-old Kate Stanton, Greater Western Sydney lost its clash against the Brisbane Lions by 16 points at Griffin Park in Coorparoo.
The teams were met by slippery conditions as the rain hit early in the game but the Lions adapted better than their rivals as they closed out a 3.10 (28) to 2.0 (12) victory over the Giants.
Lion Shaleise Law, whose game style has been compared to Adelaide superstar Eddie Betts, stood out with her tackling pressure up forward.
Jessica Wuetschner, nicknamed 'Woosha,' was strong up forward, while Brittany Gibson ran hard in the midfield.
Amy Schmidt's determination in putting pressure on the opposition was important for the Giants.
The Giants have a first-up meeting against Adelaide on February 4.
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