A determined Geelong outfit posted its second win of season 2011, overpowering Frankston at Skilled Stadium last Saturday as Kane Hunkin reports.
Despite both teams entering the game with the undesirable tag of 'cellar dwellers', it was the Cats who led from start to finish in a dominant display, curbing Frankston's resistance in all areas of the ground.
Buoyed by some recent competitive form and the return of a number of impressive youngsters (having received a taste at AFL level last weekend), Geelong virtually killed off the contest early.
The home side, with the aid of a handy breeze blowing to the Barwon River end, kicked the first five goals of the contest to enter quarter time with a significant 33 point lead.
Frankston's work rate lifted early when it was their turn to benefit from the strong southerly in the second term, but despite the efforts of Khan Haretuku (three goals) and James Appleford (two goals) up forward, the application did not reflect itself on the scoreboard. Geelong posted nine of the quarter's twelve majors to effectively see the game over by half-time.
Prominent Cat big-man Cameron Mooney was assertive in the first half, with his trademark lead-up efforts and confident set-shot conversions a welcome feature for Cats fans, which saw the key forward register five goals.
With the result seemingly determined, self-preservation became important for both teams. However, that appeared easier said than done for the Dolphins, with Benny Lean, Mark Baguley and Luke Potts all receiving injury knocks at various stages in the match's latter moments.
The last quarter went through the motions with both sides trading goals and momentum. Although cold comfort, Frankston won the last quarter, but it was nevertheless a red letter day for Geelong winning by 93 points.
After the game, Geelong coach Dale Amos was encouraged by the efforts of his side, citing their polished four quarter display.
"The way we were playing and the style of footy we want them to be playing, they were able to deliver that on a regular basis [today]," Amos said.
Additionally, the victorious coach affirmed that the win was symptomatic of some respectable recent form.
"We got overrun by a bigger, more powerful Port Melbourne [last week]. But [against] the Bullants and Werribee I thought we played some pretty good footy and had ourselves in a position to win but just couldn't quite get it done. So it's a bit like a reward for effort."
With Geelong AFL coach Chris Scott showing his willingness to blood youngsters this year, the VFL side has had a revolving-door of line-ups in 2011. However, as Amos comments, the club is well versed in handling players coming back to play important roles in the VFL.
"The environment's really competitive here; as it should be and it's important that those guys continue to stake a claim to play in the AFL. Having our own VFL program, our own VFL side allows for those guys to play exactly as they would if it was in the AFL," he said.
Mooney, Trent West (three goals) and Mark Corrigan were important in an afternoon where you could throw a blanket over the entire Cats side for best on ground honours. Similarly, Dawson Simpson's towering ruck work was again telling. While for the beaten Dolphins, Haretuku, Appleford and Matt Clark (two goals) were serviceable.
Geelong now enjoy the week off while Frankston will look to regroup quickly when they host Werribee on Sunday.
Geelong 24.18.162 def Frankston 11.3.69
Last Modified on 04/07/2011 13:16