Australian Football

Match Report

It was a case of "as you were" at the MCG on Saturday night as Geelong defeated by Hawthorn by 10 points in another titanic struggle between the two top sides. In a match that echoed the meeting of these teams late last year, the Cats held sway for much of the evening before surviving a late onslaught from the Hawks to win by under two goals, a familiar margin to all of have watched these sides do battle since Hawthorn triumphed over the Cats in the 2008 Grand Final.

Taylor Hunt and Steven Motlop got Geelong off to a good start to the match, kicking the match's first two goals between them. By quarter time the Cats had kicked five goals to two and held a 16-point lead. The second and third quarters were both arm-wrestles and featured a number of missed shots at goal by both sides. Across the two terms Geelong kicked 1.13 and Hawthorn 2.7, meaning that the margin at the last change of ends was still 16 points.

Play opened up dramatically in the final term as first Geelong broke free - goals to Jordan Murdoch (two) and Jesse Stringer taking the Cats' lead out to a game-high 33 points - and then Hawthorn got a rattle on, with five consecutive goals via Buddy Franklin, Paul Puopolo, Jack Gunston, David Hale and Jonathan Simpkin.

Those goals brought the margin back to just three points but Geelong steadied to kick two of the last three goals of the match and record another great win for the Cats.

Captain Joel Selwood was again a standout for the winners, with 34 touches and a goal. He received great support from Mitch Duncan (18 possessions) and James Kelly (23 disposals and a goal). For the Hawks, Sam Mitchell (36 possessions) was a fantastic contributor, as were Jarryd Roughead (two goals, 17 possessions) and Ben Stratton.

The Cats have now won all 11 matches played against Hawthorn since the 2008 Grand Final loss, with the margin in nine of those matches being less than two goals. With the two sides occupying positions one and two on the AFL ladder, there is a strong chance that the two will cross paths again in September.

More immediately, the Hawks will take on Port Adelaide at Football Park next Saturday afternoon, while Geelong will host Melbourne at Kardinia Park at the same time.

GOALS
Geelong: Murdoch 3; T Hunt, Motlop, Blicavs, Podsiadly, Kelly, Selwood, Stringer, Caddy
Hawthorn: Roughead, Hale 2; Breust, Franklin, Puopolo, Gunston, Simpkin, Savage

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Geelong: Selwood, Duncan, Kelly, Murdoch, Caddy, Lonergan, Mackie
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Stratton, Roughead, Gunston, Duryea

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
Geelong: Selwood, Duncan, Lonergan, Bartel, Enright, Kelly
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Roughead, Stratton, Lake, Hale, Lewis

COACHES' COMMENTS
Chris Scott (Geel): It wasn't perfect by any stretch, but it was that sort of game where there were going to be mistake made by everyone. We went into the game expecting that there were going to be ebbs and flows and we needed to react quickly when the momentum did change. We've played our best footy against the best teams this year, which is a good sign.

Alastair Clarkson (Haw): The scoreboard flattered us a bit actually. We should never have been close to 10 points. We didn't ply anywhere near as well as what we can and Geelong played really good footy, particularly early on. They had the game on their terms, playing the game that they wanted to play.

INJURIES
Geelong: Corey (concussion)
Hawthorn: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Jesse Stringer replaced Dawson Simpson in the third quarter
Hawthorn: Cyril Rioli replaced Max Bailey in the third quarter

UMPIRES: Stevic, Schmitt, McInerney