Geelong has upset Sydney on their home turf, overcoming a startlingly inaccurate scoreline to record a 12-point win.
While Sydney spent most of the second half within a kick of their opponents, Geelong were far superior for much of the night, but failed to convert their opportunities.
This pattern began early, as Mitch Duncan and Patrick Dangerfield had bright starts, but the Cats couldn’t find the goals.
It was 13 minutes before the game’s opening goal, and it took a brilliant set shot from Lance Franklin, and Daniel Robinson kicked another to give the Swans a 10-point lead.
While Gary Ablett looked slightly clumsy and George Hewett had Joel Selwood well under wraps, Geelong’s lesser lights played well and they wrestled back control.
With barely two minutes to go, Tim Kelly got the Cats on the board, and they went into quarter-time four points down.
In bad news for Sydney, Kieren Jack went off with a knee injury, and didn’t return for the rest of the night, and was joined on the bench later on by Jarrad McVeigh.
Kelly’s goal was the second of a run of 12 consecutive scores for Geelong, as their pressure jumped up a notch.
Sydney seemed intent to possess the ball in the backline, rather than run it out; Jake Lloyd finished the half with 21 disposals, while Aliir Aliir and Jarrad McVeigh were also prolific, but Geelong set up a wall across the half forward line and locked the ball in.
Tom Hawkins marked strongly from a Dangerfield pass soon after, and then young forward livewires Quinton Narkle and Lachie Fogarty also converted goals amid a sea of behinds.
At last Franklin kicked Sydney’s third, following up his own pass by crumbing the contest, knocking the ball to advantage, and outrunning his opponent to snap another elegant goal.
The Cats were well on top at half-time, but at 3.2 to 4.11 looked to have failed to sufficiently take advantage.
Franklin continued on his merry way to start the second half, booting two more goals to get Sydney back into the game, and taking his career tally to 899.
Tom McCartin, playing an impressive game, marked strongly to put Sydney in front mere moments later.
Meanwhile, Selwood had pushed further up the ground and lifted his output, taking over towards the back end of the quarter.
The Cats responded with Tom Hawkins’ second, an uncharacteristically deft running goal, but Luke Parker had the answer for Sydney.
At three-quarter time, amazingly, Geelong had two less goals than Sydney, yet the scores were level, at 7.4 to 5.16.
Five of those had been rushed behinds, but their next shot went straight through, as Patrick Dangerfield drilled a set shot following a marginal free kick against Dane Rampe.
The game looked at times as though it might break open, but the pace never really changed, and the last quarter remained as slow and contested as it had all night.
The Cats goalkicking woes continued, with Hawkins now becoming the main culprit, but even so, all night whenever the Swans weren’t kicking a goal, the margin always crept further out.
Although Oliver Florent kept his composure and slotted a goal in reply to Dangerfield’s, the margin with seven minutes left was just four points.
Another Hawkins miss gave him 2.5, and then Kelly missed a set shot from the pocket.
The Cats led by a straight kick with four minutes left, but the ball was living in the Geelong forward line, and for Sydney to kick a levelling goal something would have to change.
Tim Kelly produced a lovely snap which pushed the margin out to 12 – even though they’d kicked one less goal than their opposition.
Harry Taylor, to an extent, exorcised his late game demons from last week by icing the win, before Luke Parker at last kicked a goal for Sydney, right as the final siren sounded.
The win brings the two sides within a game on the ladder, andmay fall out of the top-four by the end of the round, while Geelong have a pair of potential eight point games to come against fellow finals aspirants Adelaide and Melbourne.
SYDNEY 2.2 3.2 7.4 9.5 (59)
GEELONG 1.4 4.11 5.16 8.23 (71)
GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 4, Parker 2, Florent, McCartin, Robinson
Geelong: Hawkins, Kelly 2, Dangerfield, Narkle, Taylor, Fogarty
BEST
Sydney: Aliir, Franklin, Rampe, Parker, Sinclair
Geelong: J. Selwood, Duncan, Hawkins, Tuohy, Menegola, Stewart, Kelly
INJURIES
Sydney: Jack (knee), McVeigh
Geelong: Nil
Comments