Geelong kicking with the aid of a strong breeze in the first quarter managed to kick 4.8 and were a bit lucky when Laidler kicked one from the wing just before the quarter time siren that just kept on rolling. Allwright had seven touches for the quarter and was well supported by Gamble, Laidler, Varcoe and first gamer Priest who also kicked a goal, they also had six touches each for the quarter.
The second quarter was very different to the first with the Bullants kicking 5.13 to Geelong’s one point. Moles battled hard collecting 16 touches for the quarter whist working overtime in defence Donohue and Firman had 13 and 12 touches respectively.
The third quarter was the same as the first with Geelong having most of the ball down its forward 50 managing to kick 5.7 to take a four goal lead into the last quarter. Moles collected 10 touches for the quarter and kicked two goals whilst Gamble had nine touches for the quarter.
In the last quarter it was whether or not Geelong could hold off the Bullants barrage and to their credit Geelong looked like succeeding until late in the last quarter. The quarter seemed to go on forever but to the Cats credit they never gave up. West was a loose defender and played the role really well and was well supported by Firman, Hollmer, Kennedy and all the other back men. In the end it wasn’t enough as the Bullants edged past Geelong by seven points. Tutangi and West had 10 touches for the quarter whilst Firman had nine.
For Geelong better players were Moles (39 touches, three goals), West (26 touches, two goals), Firman (29 touches, countless rebound 50’s) and Gamble (31 touches). In an astounding stat no goals were scored at one end of the ground by either team due to blustery conditions making the game more challenging for either side.
Speaking after the game with Amos this is what he had to say about the result.
“Although it was a disappointing loss I don’t think that we have taken a backward step, I look at it as a step forward. After losing Pods and Laidler early and with the breeze the way it was I think it was a real credit to the boys the way they stood up in the last quarter and tried to take the game on.”
Next week Geelong travel to Chirnside Park Werribee to take on the Tigers in a Saturday Night match which will be interesting to see how both teams adapt and how Geelong will cover the loss of Podsiadly against his old side.
