CATS HOLD ON TO WIN OVER SWANS; BARTEL INJURY SCARE
Ben Jensen 30 June 2007

By Ben Jensen AFL ROUND 13 GEELONG V SYDNEY SWANS GEELONG survived a final quarter challenge from Sydney and a two man interchange bench to win by three goals in front of 22,692 at Skilled Stadium to remain outright top of the AFL ladder. Geelong dominated the opening half, kicking nine goals to two, the Swans only two goals coming during a fairly contested opening ten minutes of the match. After that though, the first half was all Geelong. The win was Geelong's eighth in a row, the biggest winning streak since 1991 under Malcolm Blight.

As you'd expect, the Swans did come back in the second half, outscoring Geelong by five points in the third term. But they saved their best for the last quarter, drawing to within eleven points after kicking the first four goals. Geelong held steady though, two goals inside a minute from Gary Ablett and Steve Johnson putting the match beyond doubt, and the margin back out to twenty-three points.

JIMMY BARTEL was taken to hospital at half time, an injury that was incorrectly reported as a broken arm. His injury was later reported as concussion, Bartel feeling pins and needles in his neck and other parts of the body. Max Rooke, recalled at the expense of Kane Tenace after a one match suspension, left the field in the opening quarter with another hamstring injury.

GEELONG 5.1, 9.4, 11.8, 13.9 (87) DEFEATED
SYDNEY 2.1, 2.5, 5.8, 10.9 (69)

GOALS:
GEELONG: Mooney 4, S. Johnson 3, G. Ablett 2, N. Ablett, Varcoe, Chapman, Corey
SYDNEY: O'Keefe 2, Schmidt 2, Davis, Vogels, L. Ablett, Jolly, O'Loughlin, Fosdike

BEST:
GEELONG: G. Ablett, Enright, Chapman, S. Johnson, Milburn, Mackie, Mooney, Corey
SYDNEY: Kirk, Goodes, J. Bolton, L. Ablett, Barry

Cameron Ling was forced from the field on three occasions, the first after an accidental collision with Sydney's Adam Goodes. The second was the result of a fairly crude knock from Leo Barry, sparking remonstrations from the Geelong forwards. In the third quarter Adam Goodes whacked Ling in the face, in what may have been accidental but possibly avoidable. Barry and Goodes, amoung others, drew a chorus of boos for the rest of the game; Goodes, Sydney's best the majority of them.

Talk of the Swans needing needing to win eight out of nine remaining games to make the top four, Sydney actually has more pressing issues - winning a few games and having a chance to make the top eight. They'd surely now need to win another six games, leaving little margin for error.

BENDIGO BANK CATS MAKE THEMSELVES AT HOME

IN THE VFL, Geelong had a win in a high scoring match at Williamstown. Forced to relocate the game from Skilled Stadium due to this week's wet weather, instead of playing in a curtain raiser the Cats faced a hostile Seagulls crowd. Todd Grima kicked a bag of four while the two tall Toms, Lonergan and Hawkins, kicked two each.

GEELONG 8.5 12.6 16.13 19.15 (129) DEFEATED
WILLIAMSTOWN 2.1 8.5 11.8 14.12 (96)

GOALS:
GEELONG: Grima 4 Byrnes 3 Davenport 2 Lonergan 2 Hawkins 2 Spencer Hogan Hunt Playfair Hollmer Tenace
WILLIAMSTOWN Williams 4 Proctor 2 Rose 2 Beaumont 2 Davies Picken Stretton Dick

BEST:
GEELONG: Byrnes Grima Hunt Johnson Hogan Tenace
WILLIAMSTOWN Johnson Picken Brown Williams Bryan Nicholls