AFL ROUND 8 2007: CATS SUPREME IN ROUTINE WIN OVER DOCKERS
Ben Jensen 19 May 2007

By Ben Jensen GEELONG beat Fremantle by twenty five points in front of 20,435 at Skilled Stadium today. James Kelly had one of his best games for the club while Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett again dominated the midfield and must be in the All Australian selectors' thoughts if not the umpires' Brownlow votes. The rain held off and the sun shone, although the strong wind made for cold conditions. Fremantle struggled with the 'Geelong doctor' but the Cats had no such troubles in the opening term kicking six straight goals.

Steve Johnson wowed the crowd with four goals in his third game back and stood tall on the forward line. As one fan exclaimed aloud midway through the pivotal first term "thank God he's learned his lesson". The athletic backman Matthew Egan toweled up Freo Captain Matthew Pavlich with a fantastic game at centre half back. The defensive pressure of Travis Varcoe and Matthew Stokes resulted in a number of turnovers just outside Geelong's forward line.

Matthew Scarlett, who is a Dad 'again' with a baby daughter, had a influential game across the backline. Kane Tenace, on a knife-edge at the selection table most Thursday nights cemented his spot in the side and, like Kelly, may have played his best game ever. On the opposite wing David Wojcinski improved on last week but was still spraying his kicks at goal wide, albeit in windy conditions.

GEELONG 6.0 9.5 11.9 14.10 (94) DEFEATED
FREMANTLE 3.2 4.6 5.7 10.9 (69)

GOALS:
GEELONG: S Johnson 4 G Ablett 2 C Mooney N Ablett T Varcoe D Wojcinski C Ling B Ottens J Hunt M Stokes. FREMANTLE: P Bell 3 M Pavlich 3 C Tarrant 2 L Webster P Duffield.
BEST:
GEELONG: J Kelly J Bartel G Ablett S Johnson M Egan D Wojcinski K Tenace C Ling.
FREMANTLE: J Carr M Johnson L McPharlin P Bell A Sandilands M Carr.

MORE DETAILED MATCH REPORT TO COME

VFL - SHOCK LOSS TO BOX HILL HAWKS

BOX HILL HAWKS 4.2 6.4 10.5 14.7 (91) DEFEATED
GEELONG 2.6 3.13 6.19 9.22 (76)

GOALS
BOX HILL HAWKS: M. Thorp 6, K. Shore 2, X. Ellis 2, M. Ball, R. Vandenberg, B. Muston, G. Moss
GEELONG: T. Grima 2, S. Hunt, J. Cheep, C. Gardiner, M. Spencer, P. Read, S. Hogan, J. Davenport

BEST
BOX HILL HAWKS: N. Smith, K. Height, M. Thorp, Z. Dawson, M. Ball, S. Daniher
GEELONG: T. Callan, S. Hunt, B. Prismall, T. Harley, P. Read, S. Owen