THE DECISIVE umpiring call to penalise Geelong star Steven Motlop for running too far in the last quarter of the club's draw with St Kilda was the wrong call, according to Cats coach Chris Scott.
 
Motlop, who was Geelong's best player in the tight clash at Etihad Stadium with 33 disposals, kicked a goal 10 minutes into the final term to put the Cats two points ahead of the Saints.
 
Moments later the out-of-contract midfielder kicked another goal to extend the Cats' lead to eight points at a crucial time, but it was disallowed by the umpire who called him for running too far.
 
Scott said the decision was wrong in the Cats' eyes, but that the club was not blaming the officials for the missed opportunity at securing a win over the Saints.
 
"It was just a mistake. The coaches made mistakes, the players made mistakes, the umpires made mistakes tonight. It happens every week," Scott said post-game.
 
"I don't think there's any more or less to it. In our view [the decision that Motlop ran too far] was a mistake. You can't control that.
 
"The umpiring department will rate their umpires and the reality is they don't make many mistakes. The players and coaches make more than they do, but in our view it was a mistake. [We're] not going to make a big deal of it, it happens."
 
The draw leaves the Cats' finals chances in a precarious position with two rounds to go, seeing them sit in ninth position on 44 points.
 
Adelaide, who thrashed the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night, rose to seventh spot with 50 points, while North Melbourne is in eighth position on 44 points ahead of its clash with Fremantle on Sunday.
 
Scott said the Cats would approach the last two rounds against Collingwood and Adelaide in the same mindset as they would have if they had secured a win against St Kilda.
 
"Adelaide winning by so much tonight means that the percentage was always going to be very, very difficult if not impossible to catch. So the two points (for the draw) is important to us," Scott said.
 
"The plan for us in the next fortnight really is exactly as it was for us pre-game: do everything we can to win those two games and hope everything falls our way."
 
Scott said Josh Caddy's knee injury, which saw him substituted out of the game after half-time would need to be further assessed before the club was aware of how much damage he had sustained.
 
But on a more encouraging note, he said the performance of ruckman Nathan Vardy had been something to take away from the game after the 24-year-old returned for his first game in nearly two years.
 
Vardy had 14 disposals, 20 hit-outs and kicked two goals in a promising showing.
 
"We thought he was really important. We didn't have any great expectations of him, we asked him to come in and play a role for us that we've been lacking for most of the year," Scott said.
 
"That was a real positive from the night. He's had a wretched run."
 
Scott also spared himself a moment to smile at the shocking blunder by Cats veteran Steve Johnson in the second term, when he was run down cruising towards an open goal.
 
Johnson made amends and kicked four goals from 18 disposals in a generally polished display.

But for the error near half-time, Scott said: "It was comical. Put it in the file. If it wasn't so important it'd be hilarious."