A dominant fourth quarter from the Northern Bullants denied Geelong a chance at a memorable upset, with the Bullants heading the Cats late to win by five points in a tight contest at Skilled Stadium last Saturday as Kane Hunkin reports.
No strangers to close finishes, Geelong again fought bravely against a more fancied opponent, however the Bullants overcame a significant three quarter time deficit to hand the Cats their second consecutive single figure defeat.
The two teams opposing form appeared significant and was compounded before the game, with Geelong key forward Tom Hawkins and co-captain Troy Selwood both missing due to slight injury concerns and impressive youngster Allen Christensen, sitting out due to AFL duties as first emergency.
The first quarter proved a stalemate with goals elusive. Additionally, the Bullants heightened matters, unable to convert on numerous forward deliveries, kicking six behinds before registering their first major.
Coming off an intestate trip as part of the Foxtel Cup, the Northern Bullants appeared sluggish, with Geelong remaining a stubborn opponent. The game eventually opened up with Geelong kicking six goals to five in the second term to ensure scores were level at the main break.
One of the season's biggest upsets appeared on the cards when the Cats kicked six of the first seven goals of the third quarter to open up a match-high 29 point lead. However the Bullants, in a response typical of their top four position, responded to kick seven of the next eight majors, including the first five goals of the last quarter.
In the closing minutes both sides held and subsequently coughed up narrow leads. The match reached a dramatic conclusion with Cat Cameron Mooney marked 25 metres out on a tight angle for the right footer. The forward, with a chance to tie the scores, unfortunately pushed the kick across the goal face narrowly missing to the left. The Bullants held on in the ensuing final minutes for a five point win.
After the game, Northern Bullants coach Darren Harris adopted a fundamental and pragmatic way of viewing the result, affirming the importance of a win.
"It's another four points, it's another qualifying game that you win that gets you closer to playing finals footy and I think from a development point of view today, to watch some of the efforts of the players was fantastic," Harris said.
Furthermore, the coach highlighted the team's ability to stay in the game after a poor third quarter.
"They [Geelong] were able to win those 50-50 contests from the get out kick forward and they got a good contest and brought the ball across half forward. And we got caught out. But to our credit we kept doing what we wanted to do and keep pressing up and we eventually got there."
The victory itself was also about restoring "pride" after last week's loss to Claremont.
"We just wanted to get a little bit of pride back. We thought our brand was tarnished a little bit last week with the way we went about it."
For the victorious Bullants, Brock McLean was an important factor, with the midfielder lively and damaging around the ground.
Despite the loss, the return of Simon Hogan was a positive for the Cats and the continued improvement of Mitch Brown (three goals) gave supporters some joy in an otherwise bittersweet day. Shannon Byrnes' (two goals) push for senior selection received a boost, with the small forward producing his best game since returning from injury.
The Northern Bullants now prepare to host North Ballarat while Geelong's task gets no easier when they travel to Port Melbourne to take on the league leaders on Saturday.
Northern Bullants 15.12.102 def Geelong 15.7.97
Last Modified on 20/06/2011 15:18