After trailing at every change and before leveling the scores, Geelong was looking down the barrel of defeat after the Zebras then kicked three quick goals. Up stepped Ben Johnson though with two goals, to have eight, and Brodie Moles who slotted one through to get the Cats over the line.
Geelong got off to a sluggish start conceding seven goals to three in the first quarter and could have been more if Tom Gillies wasn’t doing a fantastic job on Zebras star forward Nick Saunter. Kane Tenace and Matt Firman found plenty of the ball in the first quarter giving the Cats lots of run through the middle of the ground.
The Cats gained some ground in the second quarter and were helped even more when Jon Simpkin kicked truly after the half time siren to cut the margin down to 22 points at the main break. Nathan Djerrkura and Moles found plenty of the footy in the second quarter as Geelong won the inside 50’s 15 to 12.
Geelong played an inspiring brand of football in the third quarter and what was even more pleasing was that they were two men down with Tom Lonergan and Adam Varcoe both off injured for the rest of the game, Lonergan injuring his calf and Varcoe who come off with hamstring soreness.
Geelong coach Dale Amos still expects Lonergan and Varcoe to be available this week.
“I don't think (it's anything serious). It was more of a management thing than anything else," Amos said.
"Probably with the hard ground out there his calf tightened up and it was a bit of a no-risk policy. (And) Adam might have just tightened up a little bit. I think they will probably both come up."
The third quarter saw the Cats senior players all stand up with Simon Hogan, Tenace, Djerrkura and Moles all standing up when it counted, whilst Trent West was dominating across the ground dominating the hit outs for the quarter 18 to 8 whilst taking contested marks. The Cats bridged the gap to only eight points heading into the last quarter.
The last quarter was a topsy-turvy affair with Geelong kicking away early to get even then the Zebras kicking away again and it looked like Geelong were gone but to the guys credit they stuck to their game plan and believed in each other and managed to pull off a great victory and give them a lot of confidence. The senior players stepped up with Westy giving the midfielders first use around the ground.
“Westy was brilliant today, sometimes that happens when your left to shoulder the load, sometimes guys rise and he did today, he was great in that last quarter when we really needed him, he was great in the clearances, he was taking strong contested marks and his defensive pressure was brilliant.” Amos said.
After the game, West remained modest about his performance.
“They had two quality ruckmen and I just gave it my all, I’m just trying to play some good footy and get back into the ones, it was a good effort by all the midfielders to help us all out.”
Johnson, a VFL listed player from Bell Park, who kicked a career-high eight goals had this to say after the win.
“It was a tough game when you have players like Max Hudghton in the backline but the midfield was terrific I only needed half a metre on my opponent and that was it, I was hit on the chest every time. I was looking to pass the one from the boundary line but there were no options so I just kicked it and lucky for me it went in.”
