Round 3 – Geelong v Gold Coast: Bruised and Battered Cats hold off determined Suns

The Cats were bruised and battered but were able to hold off the fast finishing Suns to win by 9 points in an enthralling clash at Simonds Stadium on a wet Sunday afternoon. The Gold Coast Suns traveled down to the Cattery to take on the Geelong Cats in a clash that both sides were looking to get their first win of the season. The Cats were slight favorites going in but with the Cats having a few out (including the late withdrawal of Tom Hawkins) the Suns were in with a real chance. It was Geelong, however, who were able to get the four points in a hard fought game against the Suns.

The Cats got off to the perfect start with the late inclusion for Tom Hawkins, Josh Walker kicked the first goal of the game, then with 1st year player Darcy Lang kicking a goal a couple of minutes later the Cats were off and running. The Suns however were able to respond through young gun Jack Martin and then through a wonderful goal from 1st year player Jarrod Garlett the Suns were able to hit the front. However, that wasn’t for long with the Cats getting back in front through a goal from Steven Motlop. Then for the next 10 minutes it was the Suns, who dominated the play and somewhat on the scoreboard kicking 3.1, to get the margin out to a handy 13 points. however you knew the Cats were not going to go away and the quickly responded with two quick goals and bought the margin back to a single figure margin. At quarter time after a tightly fought 1st quarter it was the Suns, who were up by 8 points; 6.5 to 5.3

 

The Second quarter began with a 8 point margin separating the two sides. The Suns kicked a goal in the first minute of the quarter thanks to the stand in captain Michael Rischitelli, the Cats, however responded not long after that through Mitch Clark and then for the next 15 minutes there was a tight tussle between the two teams with both sides unable to get the advantage and kick a goal. The next goal wasn’t until the 20th minute mark and that was courtesy of Josh Walker. After a couple of missed opportunities by the Cats it was the Suns, who started to dominate the game but were unable to put thew dominance on the scoreboard due to them only kicking the one goal and four behinds. So at half time it was the Suns who went into the break with only a 12 point lead and quite possibly ruing those missed opportunities at the end of the quarter, scores at the end of the quarter was 8.12 to 7.6.

 

The Third quarter began with the Suns up by 12 and with the Cats knowing they had to get off to a good start and boy did they! Through goals to Walker, Johnson, Caddy, Selwood, Caddy again and Gregson in the first 23 minutes of the quarter, in the blink of a eye they were up by 24 points. It was as if a fire had been lit under the Geelong players, and for that 23 minutes it was like the Geelong of the last 8 years. At this stage there was the thought that this game could get ugly for the Suns, but unlike the first two rounds they worked hard and for the last 10 minutes of the quarter they had most of the play and the ball was in their half for most of the time, but unfortunately for them, they could only get 1.3. At 3 quarter time they (the Suns) were still in the game, they trailed by 17 points: 13.8 to 9.15.

 

The last quarter began with the Suns trailing by 17 points and still in with a shot of winning the game, they also had the advantage on the bench because Geelong were reduced to one on the bench due to injuries to Bartel, Stokes and Lonergan. Even though this was the case the Suns knew they needed to get off to a quick start in the last quarter, kicks a few goals back to back to give them a chance in this game. They did kick the first of the quarter through Sam Day but it was quickly cancelled out by Geelong. Then the Suns, through goals to Touk Millar and Branden Matera brought the margin back to 4 points and suddenly it looked like the Suns were going to run over the Cats. But with about 5 minutes to play Steven Motlop was able to kick a steadier for the Cats to get the margin back out to 10 points and it looked like that was it for the Suns, but no they kept on fighting and with just a 1 minute 20 seconds left on the clock, it was Suns young gun Jack Martin stepping up to the plate to kick a great goal to get the margin back to 3 points. The Cats were struggling, had their backs to the wall, they needed someone to stand up and who did? the captain Joel Selwood, who through grit and determination was able to get a centre clearance (the most crucial of the game) got the ball down to big man Mark Blicavs, who through a massive kick from outside 50 was able to get a goal to seal the game for the Cats.

 

In the end it was the Cats who came away with the four points in a tight contest but not without cost, due to the injuries to Jimmy Bartel, Mathew Stokes and Tom Lonergan. From the Suns point of view they had a lot of opportunities throughout the game kicking 18 behinds, but this was a much better effort from the Suns (compared to the last two weeks) and if they can bring that effort and perhaps fix up their disposal efficiency they will win plenty of games this year.

 

Geelong  5.3       7.6        13.8    16.9  (105)

Gold Coast   6.5      8.12       9.15     13.18  (96)

 

Goals: 

Geelong: Walker 4, Caddy 2, Gregson 2, Motlop 2,Clark, Lang, Thurlow, Johnson, Selwood, Blicavs

Gold Coast: Lynch 3, Martin 3, Matera 2, Rischitelli, Hall, Garlett, Day, Miller

 

BEST 

Geelong: Selwood, Kelly, Enright, Walker, Blicavs, Gregson

Gold Coast: Rischitelli, McKenzie Lynch, Bennell, Prestia,

 

My Votes 3 Selwood (Gee), 2 Kelly (Gee), Prestia (GCS)

 

Umpires: Bannister, Stephens, McInerney

Official crowd: 20,813 at Simonds Stadium