Motlop dazzles as
GEELONG further exposed West Coast’s poor record on the road with a dominant 44point victory at Simonds Stadium yesterday that further heightened their own premiership prospects.
The Cats were simply too good for last year’s runners-up, bringing up their sixth win of the season to date and consigning the Eagles to yet another frustrating road trip that ended in disappointment.
This was meant to be a danger game for Geelong. But having taken a three-point lead into quarter-time, they reeled off seven goals to one in the second term to set the scene for their dominance.
And other than a sevenminute period midway in the third term when the Eagles reeled off five goals and cut a 51-point margin briefly back to 19, this match was never in any serious jeopardy.
Joel Selwood was outstanding, clawing his way to 14 possessions in the first term and 35 for the match.
Territorian dynamo Steven Motlop scored three of his four goals during that second term blitz, and he gave off several others in a memorable match.
The likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Josh Caddy, Cam Guthrie and Mitch Duncan were important players while the Cats’ defence was outstanding, keeping their opposition to only 79 points.
Geelong had a few injury concerns early in the match with Nakia Cockatoo and Lincoln McCarthy both off the ground and headed up the players’ race for treatment.
There was an early stalemate in the battle for the corridor with a swirling wind that marginally favoured the Eagles’ end.
A slick handball from Patrick Dangerfield set up a chain of play that swept up the ground and into the hands of Shane Kerstens, who goaled, at the eight-minute-mark of the game.
Selwood set the scenes with 14 of his team’s 101 disposals in the opening term, but the Eagles were able to hit back with two goals in the middle stages to BEST CROWD Josh Kennedy and Scott Lycett from free kicks.
Another West Coast tall forward, Jack Darling, gave his team the lead when he proved too tall and strong for Tom Ruggles, as the visitors took a three-point lead into the first change.
But Motlop turned the game on its head after the break, kicking three for the term and gifting another two.
Six Cats goals in the second term turned a quarter-time deficit into a 35-point half-time lead, with the Eagles managing only one goal for the quarter.
The Cats started the second half as they had ended it, with some nifty teamwork from Dangerfield, Selwood and Josh Caddy providing the opportunity for Kersten to boot the opening goal 80 seconds in.
But off the back of some exceptional ruck work from Nic Naitanui and some great clearance work in the middle, the visitors piled on five consecutive goals to draw themselves back into the contest.
Caddy responded with a much-needed steadier to break their drought, which stretched almost to the start of the quarter.
When the Cats kicked the first two goals of the final term — within the first three minutes — it was enough to keep the home crowd comfortable in terms of the result. And they finished it off with six goals in the final term.