Geelong are into the Grand Final after defeating the Pies in a 5 point thriller at the MCG. 98,000 fans turned up to to the preliminary final and were hopeful to see a good game and that they did. Whilst Collingwood fans may be disappointed at the final result they can be proud with what there team has achieved this year.
In wet conditions Collingwood stuck with the premiership favourites all night and never gave up, the biggest lead of the game was during the final quarter and even then it was on an 18 point margin.
Brad Ottens dominated all over the ground. With Josh Fraser being a late withdrawal Collingwood were seriously undermanned in the ruck. Ottens was simply too strong for Richards & Bryan who replaced Fraser.
Geelong went into the final quarter 5 points down but quickly hit the lead from a Travis Cloke goal. It was then when we saw the brilliance of Geelong that we have seen all year with Mooney, Johnson and Chapman kicking the next 3 goals to make it hard for a Collingwood fight back which we all know so well. That didn’t stop them from trying though, goals to Cloke and Didak put them right back in it.
Two minutes later Gary Ablett Jnr. kicked a trademark goal which gave the Cats a two goal lead and it stayed that way for 10 minutes. Geelong was starting to slow the game down and keep possession of the ball even though there was still plenty of time if the pies won possession. With a minute to go Paul Medhurst stood up and kicked a goal which gave them a sniff at a Grand Final birth. The final minute was tense and even entered the Pies forward line however it was not to be.
Geelong know there is still one more hurdle to jump, they made that clear after the game when they once again huddled in the middle of the ground and skipper Tom Harley made it clear. Geelong are determined to win the premiership this year. After dominating all year anything less will be a waste of a year.
The Cats will now eagerly await the results of tomorrow nights match between Port Adelaide and Kangaroos to see who they will be facing in next weeks Grand Final.
GEELONG 4.4 7.6 9.13 13.14 (92)
COLLINGWOOD 2.5 6.7 9.8 13.9 (87)
Goals:
Geelong: S Johnson 3, M Stokes 3, C Mooney 2, B Ottens, J Kelly, G Ablett, M Rooke, P Chapman.
Collingwood: T Cloke 3, P Medhurst 3, S Rusling 2, A Didak 2, L Davis, S O’Bree, S Burns.
Best:
Geelong: B Ottens, G Ablett, J Bartel, S Johnson, J Corey, M Stokes.
Collingwood: J Clement, H O’Brien, T Cloke, N Maxwell, D Swan.
Umpires: S McBurney S McLaren S McInerney.
Crowd: 98,002 at the MCG.
