Australian Football

Match Report

A dominant first quarter has helped Geelong to a 41-point win over second-placed Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night, lifting the Cats to a 3-3 record and within touch of the top eight. They looked liked the Cats of old in the first half, running in swarms, leaving Magpies in their wake. The Pies did get on a roll in the second half, though, at one stage in the last term getting within 23 points of Geelong before the Cats steadied to run our comfortable victors.

Collingwood opened proceedings with a rushed behind in the first minute of the match but the next 25 minutes belonged almost exclusively to Geelong. First-year player got the ball rolling with his first goal at the two-minute mark and the Cats attacked relentlessly with majors to Darcy Lang, Steven Motlop, Steve Johnson and Gregson again, before Jarryd Blair briefly interrupted the flow with a behind at the 12-minute mark. Geelong then came again, with goals to Rhys Stanley and Tom Hawkins taking the Cats out to a 41-point lead before Dane Swan finally got the Pies on the board with a goal just before the quarter-time siren.

The Magpies needed a fast start in the second quarter to give themselves a chance but sadly for them the term was a repeat of the first, albeit on a smaller scale. Geelong scored the first four goals of the quarter, to Steven Motlop, Joel Selwood and two to Mitch Clark, before skipper Scott Pendlebury closed out the half with Collingwood's only major of the second term at the 23-minute mark. At the long break, it was the Cats by a massive 52 points. 

At the beginning of the second half, the match underwent something of a transformation. Magpie Travis Cloke, goaled within the first two minutes and, although Geelong's Jordan Murdoch responded two minutes later, Collingwood was playing with renewed vigour. The Cats appeared to go into their shell and it was now the Magpies that were running in waves. The Pies kicked the remaining three goals of the quarter via Jack Crisp, Swan and Jesse White to close the gap to 35 points at the last change. Geelong was still a strong favourite but the Collingwood went into 'orange time' with a glimmer of hope.

When the final quarter began, that hope strengthened, with Cloke goaling in the first minute to cut the margin to below five goals. He had a chance to make the difference just four goals a few minutes later but missed a very easy shot from only 15 metres out. But still the Magpies came and when White kicked his second at the 14-minute mark the margin was just 23 points and the worry was visible on Cats' players, coaches and fans alike. But within the proverbial blink of an eye, Geelong switched back on and killed the contest. Having gone 45 minutes without a goal, the Cats kicked three in two minutes - to Nakia Cockatoo, Motlop and Gregson and the margin was back out to seven goals. They defended for the last few minutes of the game to run out winners by 41.

Geelong's best included Mitch Duncan (38 disposals, 12 marks), Mark Blicavs (27 possessions and six tackles) and Corey Enright (12 marks, 11 tackles), while the Magpies were well served by Scott Pendlebury (24 possessions, eight tackles), Nathan Brown in defence on Tom Hawkins and Adam Oxley (22 touches and four marks).

Despite the loss, the Magpies remain in third place with a 4-2 record. They will take on Richmond at the MCG next Sunday. Geelong meanwhile will look to make it three in a row against Sydney at Stadium Australia on Saturday night. The Cats had a horror trip to Sydney last year, losing to the Swans by 110 points at the SCG in round 11.

GOALS
Collingwood: Swan, Cloke, White 2; Pendlebury, Crisp
Geelong: Motlop, Gregson 3; Clark 2; Lang, Johnson, Stanley, Hawkins, Selwood, Murdoch, Cockatoo

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Collingwood: Brown, Pendlebury, Oxley, Swan, Grundy, Langdon
Geelong: Duncan, Blicavs, Hawkins, Taylor, Caddy, Motlop, Lonergan, Selwood

BEST - THE AGE
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Brown, Toovey, Langdon, Swan, Crisp
Geelong: Blicavs, Enright, Duncan, Gregson, Caddy, Hawkins, Thurlow

INJURIES
Collingwood: Sam Dwyer (leg)
Geelong: Josh Cowan (right hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES 
Collingwood: Sam Dwyer replaced by Tim Broomhead at half time
Geelong: Josh Cowan replaced by Nakia Cockatoo in the first quarter

UMPIRES: Fisher, Dalgleish, Stevic

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti, Cameron Ling, Wayne Carey, Matthew Richardson, Nick Maxwell