Australian Football

Match Report

North Melbourne pulled off the upset of round three by comprehensively defeating reigning premiers Geelong. The win was one of the Kangaroos’ best in recent seasons and it ended a three-year losing streak when playing top-four sides. It was North’s first win over the Cats since 2007 and Brad Scott’s first win as coach against twin brother, Chris. The Kangaroos raced out of the blocks by kicking the first three goals of the match with the Cats looking sluggish after their epic two-point win over Hawthorn just six days earlier. Chris Scott refused to blame the taxing encounter against the Hawks and the absence of star full-back Matthew Scarlett as excuse for the under-par performance from the Cats. North was challenged at times, particularly in the final quarter, but they responded every time with class. North played a fast, hard-running game full of handballing that, at times, penetrated the Cats’ usually forceful defence with ease. North veteran Brent Harvey appeared to go the whole game without a tagger, as he finished the game best on ground with 39 disposals. Younger midfielders Ryan Bastinac and Jack Ziebell also played a crucial role in the confidence boosting win for the Roos, providing terrific run through the midfield and amazingly they moved forward to kick four goals each. After finishing 2010 and 2011 in ninth, the Kangaroos sit in sixth position after three rounds and look a real chance at playing finals, while the Cats are in unfamiliar territory in 11th position.

GOALS:

North Melbourne: Edwards, Bastinac, Ziebell 4, Adams, McIntosh 2, Anthony, Thomas, Harvey, Harper

Geelong: Podsiadly 5, Hawkins 4, Motlop 2, Gillies, Horlin-Smith, Byrnes, Taylor, Guthrie



BEST -AFL.COM.AU
North Melbourne: Harvey, Bastinac, Wells, Ziebell, Wright, Edwards, Firrito, McIntosh, Swallow, Delaney
Geelong: Podsiadly, Taylor, Selwood, Bartel, Kelly, T.Hunt

BEST - THE AGE
North Melbourne: Harvey, Wells, Bastinac, Ziebell, Delaney, Firrito
Geelong: Selwood, Bartel, Podsiadly, Kelly, Taylor, Hunt


COACHES COMMENTS
Brad Scott (NM): I'm just really pleased for our players who have worked really worked hard over the last couple of years to try and play a certain style that we've been working on, that we think is going to be capable of sustaining finals-type intensity and finals-type pressure.

Chris Scott (Gee): Our skill-level through the middle of the ground was poor. We pride ourselves on our skills under pressure and ... tonight it wasn't good enough. We'll review it really hard and we won't let anyone off the hook, including ourselves [the coaches], and we'll make sure we bounce back next week.

Umpires: Stevic, Jennings, Mollison