CATS’ COMEBACK REAL SHOCK AS PIES BLOW IT
GEELONG pulled off one of the great football heists on Saturday night, coming from 37 points down late in the third quarter to beat Collingwood by 13 points.
The game looked finished at three-quarter time as the box-office Pies held a 30-point lead, but a Jeremy Cameron-inspired final -quarter surge sealed a memorable win for the Cats.
Geelong piled on seven goals to none to seal one of its more memorable wins in recent memory – 16.8 (104) to 13.13 (91).
Collingwood was left to rue atrocious first-half goalkicking as the deadeye Cats ended up making them pay. The Pies won inside-50s by 12 and contest possessions by 23 but couldn’t capitalise in front of goal, blowing countless opportunities.
The two teams’ new game styles were on full display early, but it was the Magpies who got the better of Operation Take Territory with seven more inside-50s.
But wayward goalkicking robbed them of a bigger quartertime lead than 10 points.
The main culprit was Jordan De Goey.
It was only poor goal kicking that stopped him from having one of the best individual quarters in recent seasons.
The 26-year-old had 12 disposals and two clearances but missed four shots at goal that you would expect him to kick, finishing the quarter with four behinds.
Conversely, the Cats’ two goals came from pinpoint set shots on the chalk of the boundary line, both 45m from goal, courtesy of key forwards Tom Hawkins and Cameron.
The Pies’ goalkicking woes didn’t get any better in the second quarter as they squandered more chances in front of the sticks, opening the door for the Cats to take the lead into halftime.
It was illustrated by the fact the Cats led by five points but had kicked two more goals than the Pies.
Collingwood’s territory dominance and poor conversion played perfectly into Geelong’s hands.
Territorian Brandan Parfitt and Cameron were able to get out the back of Collingwood’s defence to kick goals from pointblank range, while Isaac Smith and Patrick Dangerfield converted free kicks.
Brody Mihocek kicked the Pies’ only goal for the quarter, coming after a gut-busting run from the wing to deep inside 50.
The game had been on Collingwood’s boot, and when they finally kicked straight in the third quarter the MCG certainly came to life.