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June 11, 2006
Cats Back On Track
Geelong has overcome a fortnight of turmoil to return to the winners' list with a comfortable seven-goal victory over a spirited Essendon at Telstra Dome on Friday night, stretching the Bombers' losing streak to 10.The Cats kicked the opening five goals of the game and booted a further six on the trot either side of half-time to set up a 20.10 (130) to 13.10 (88) victory over a Bombers outfit which tried hard but lacked the class of its rival.
Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman were again superb for the Cats, their mixture of skill, aggression and football smarts proving a difficult combination for the Bombers to overcome.
Ablett finished with four goals and six hard-ball-gets in his 19 possessions, while Chapman, who spent more time in the midfield than he has in the past, collected 32 touches, including seven clearances and five hard-ball-gets.
Matthew Scarlett defended stoutly, hardly losing a one-on-one contest as he outclassed David Hille on his way to 20 disposals.
Dustin Fletcher, the only fit member of the Bombers' gun trio, proved far too good for Nathan Ablett, finding the ball 20 times, while Jason Johnson showed a welcome return to form after a run of outs and a spell in the VFL, gathering 33 disposals.
With only one win between the two sides since round three, it was no surprise to see both teams struggle early in the surprisingly misty conditions under the roof at Telstra Dome.
Aided by eight possessions from the dangerous Chapman, the Cats awoke first with two goals to Gary Ablett inside the opening 13 minutes before Cam Mooney burst to life.
The fiery Cat marked and goaled twice in the next eight minutes before freeing up youngster Mathew Stokes as Geelong sprinted to a five-goal lead at the 26-minute mark.
Trailing by 24 points at the first break, the Bombers rocketed out of the gates in the second term with goals to Hille and Scott Lucas inside the opening three minutes to narrow the margin to 11.
The Cats steadied and booted four of the next five goals to stretch their advantage out to 29 points, the Bombers' cause not helped by Joel Reynolds, who dropped a sitter on the lead inside the forward 50.
With Corey Enright, Joel Corey and Chapman all starting to get the better of their opponents and Shannon Byrnes and Stokes adding bite and pace around the packs, the Cats kicked away in time on, blowing the margin out to 43 points by the long break.
A terrible kick out of defence by Andrew Welsh allowed Darren Milburn to mark over Jay Nash and the Cat kicked long to Ottens' advantage, allowing the big man to mark and goal, giving Geelong a 50-point break at the eight-minute mark of the third term.
Leading by a similar margin last week against the Eagles, the Cats' faithful would have been forgiven for a sense of déjà vu when the Bombers lifted to boot the next three goals of the game, narrowing the deficit to 31 points.
However, two bits of Gary Ablett magic allowed the Cats to avoid the staggers and enter the final term with a 41-point advantage.
An Angus Monfries snap in the opening minute gave the Bombers hope but Mooney snuffed that out moments later and when the mercurial Steve Johnson defied physics with his checkside kick on goal the Cats had an unassailable 50-point lead.
The Bombers refused to give in, kicking the next three goals to trim the gap to 31 points entering time-on, however, unlike last week, the Cats did not buckle and Stokes' third ensured there would not be another costly fadeout.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson said while his team still had areas in which it could lift, he was pleased to see it play periods of good football two weeks in a row.
"(There's) still some improvement in there, but I was really excited about the first half again but we still tired a little bit and we messed our ball use up. Some of our kicking under pressure was really poor, but a lot better in a lot of areas," Thompson said.
"It's great to be able to play some decent footy for periods of a game for two weeks in a row and, saying that, we would expect a bit more next week."
Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said it was a much better performance after his side was flogged by 128 points against Adelaide in round 10.
"This match we were a much better footy team after a hiding last week," Sheedy said post-match.
"The players showed a bit more spirit and played some good footy, particularly in the second half."
GEELONG: 6.3 12.5 16.6 20.10 (130)
ESSENDON: 2.3 5.4 9.7 13.10 (88)
GOALS - Geelong: G.Ablett 4, S.Johnson 3, Mooney 3, Stokes 3, Enright 2, Chapman, Corey, Ling, Milburn, Ottens
Essendon: Lucas 3, Monfries 2, Dempsey, Dyson, Hille, Johns, Laycock, Lovett-Murray, McPhee, Reynolds
INJURIES - Geelong: Nil
Essendon: Winderlich (leg)
CHANGES - Geelong: Nil
Essendon: Camporeale (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Dyson
REPORTS: Nil
UMPIRES - Allen, Wenn, Pannell
CROWD - 43,600 at Telstra Dome
Geelongblog.com Player of The Year Votes
5. Paul Chapman
4. Gary Ablett
3. Joel Corey
2. Matthew Scarlett
1. Jimmy Bartel
Leaderboard
25 - Gary Ablett
24 - Paul Chapman
18 - Joel Corey
17 - Jimmy Bartel
14 - Darren Milburn
12 - Jarad Rooke
10 - Cameron Mooney
8 - Brad Ottens
6 - Corey Enright
5 - Kent Kingsley
4 - Josh Hunt
3 - Matthew Scarlett
2 - Cameron Ling
1 - Shannon Byrnes
1 - Steven King
Posted by Sammy D at June 11, 2006 04:27 PM
Comments
Glad to get the win. Don't remember much of the game but Essendon are absolutely shocking so I'm not taking much from it. Lets hope the cats put up some good performances in the next 2 interstate trips
Posted by: Sticko at June 13, 2006 02:05 PM
Correct Sticko, Essendon were pathetic, any team with Joel Reynolds as one of the best players are struggling big time !! Doesn't say much for the Cats defenders though that he can get his hand on the ball that many times though !!
Posted by: SBCC Pres at June 13, 2006 08:36 PM
A win,yes - back on track,no.
Great to see my beloved Cats back on the winning list.Even though they kept wanting to revert back to Mark Thompsons game plan of kicking backwards and holding onto possession, it was like a breath of fresh air to see long kicking to Mooney and Ablett up front.
With our captain sat in the warmth of the stands yet again it is time to appoint an on field leader who actualy plays from time to time.Mark Blake is going to be a wonderful player and should be given the ruck berth for the remainder of 2006.Should King return this season 3 solid weeks of V.F.L. Football where he rucks the entire game should show us whether he is fair dinkum about his footy - King is a highly paid footballer who has given Geelong very little in return.Roll on trade time !!!!!!
Here's hoping for a win over the Dockers this coming weekend.Thanks for a great site.
Posted by: Shadow58 at June 14, 2006 07:07 PM
I know we're not back on track. Due to uni exams I've just been using the reports from the AFL website, who unfortunately were stupid enough to call the article "Cats Back on Track".
Nearly only 1 week till uni exams are finished. Huzzah!
Posted by: Sammy D at June 14, 2006 08:35 PM