Woman attacks man as AFL fan violence rears its ugly head

A woman has been captured attacking a male member of the crowd in the latest incident of fan violence in the AFL.

Smart phone footage caught the unsavoury scenes in the stands during Essendon’s impressive win against the Crows on Friday night.

The lady at the centre of the clip can be seen smacking a male supporter in the back of the head.

The man instinctively grabbed the woman by the arm, sparking a heated confrontation between several more fans.

One man appears to race in to defend the woman as three security guards quickly step in to break it up.

The woman then appears to fire another shot at the man, before the sparring crowd members are pulled away by the security officials.

It’s unclear what led to the incident but it continues an ugly trend of clashes in the AFL between fans.

Just last month, another unsavoury incident was captured on smart phone during Carlton's match against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

Mobile phone vision showed police breaking up a fight between fans, with some supporters seen trying to punch one another over the top of the officers.

Someone from the stand above then tips a drink on top of the sparring fans and the police officers, while they are escorting the offenders out of the stadium.

Fan violence has been an issue for the AFL, with beefed up security and behavioural awareness officers patrolling the stands part of the league's crackdown on the problem.

Incident overshadows superb Bombers win

Friday night's ugly scenes in Adelaide came as Essendon wrapped up their fourth consecutive victory to stamp their AFL finals credentials.

The Bombers booted four goals in the last seven minutes to sink Adelaide by 21 points.

Essendon's six win from their past seven matches is a stunning turnaround from a 3-5 start to the season when many, except coach John Worsfold, lost faith.

"I knew where it was going," he said after Essendon's 15.6 (96) to 10.15 (75) away win against the Crows.

"I didn't know how long it was going to take to get there.

"You never do, you don't know what is going to happen week-to-week.

"All you can do is focus on what you believe in and stick at it."

The Bombers enter the weekend two wins ahead of ninth spot.

And they play just one side above them (Collingwood) for the rest of the minor round.

"Honestly, I don't look at the ladder regularly," Worsfold said.

"I look at how we want to play the game and how we can keep improving, that is my focus.

"There is gong to be a lot of shuffling of that top 12 or 14 teams over the next however many rounds there are to go.

"So I'm not gong to spend any time worrying about what that potentially might look like."

But Worsfold took satisfaction with his club's timely run into the finals.

"If you look at the way we're playing our footy over the last six or seven weeks, we're seeing more and more consistency," he said.

Orazio Fantasia, Zac Clarke and Jayden Laverde, who all missed the Crows game due to injury, should be available for next week's trip to face last-placed Gold Coast.

Captain Dyson Heppell gathered 20 disposals in Adelaide despite a foot injury which he will carry for the rest of the season.

"We don't know how he will pull up until probably Monday," Worsfold said.

"He may be right for the rest of the year, he may need another spell somewhere. Don't know, it's not one you can predict."

With AAP