By Simon Dang
In windy conditions at Burbank Oval, Williamstown bounced back from consecutive losses with a comfortable 20.16.136 to 10.15.75 victory against Geelong.
The gusty Melbourne weather did no favours for either team, especially with the seaside location of the Seagull's home ground and the beginning of the match certainly showed that, with both teams having to adapt. Matt Little slotted home two early goals which led the way for a Seagull dominance in the first quarter. The Cats' misery was only compiled by their own mistakes in the back half which saw three consecutive clangers from kick outs leading to direct turnovers.
The second quarter saw a less error-ridden performance with sharper skills on display. The wind still affected goalkicking though with shots seemingly set to fly between the sticks drifting woefully off target. Despite the five goal deficit, Geelong worked their way back into the game. Led by their big men up forward - milestone hero James Podsiadly, Ben Johnson and Tom Lonergan - the Cats looked dangerous when the ball moved quickly up there. Unfortunately, on several occassions, their forwards were penalised for hands-in-the-back. Premiership player Matthew Stokes was instrumental for the Cats play and fired home to give his team a sniff. The missed opportunities ultimately proved costly for the Cats though as Seagull's captain Brett Johnson snapped a miraculous goal from the boundary line to lead Williamstown into the break six goals ahead.
The Seagulls came out after half time and ruthlessly put a wet blanket all over any Geelong attempt to get back into the game. The ball was exclusively played in the Seagull's half with the Cats failing to break into their forward fifty with any purpose. Led by two more goals from Matt Little, Williamstown put on a seven goals to none quarter, more or less icing the game - or so they thought.
The last quarter saw the Cats play the kind of football coach Dale Amos would have been looking for all afternoon. Young forward Dan McKenna was taking big pack marks, Tom Allright was snapping goals from near the boundary while their midfield - led by Stokes and Kane Tenace - was all over the the Seagulls. Restoring some respectability to the scoreboard, the Cats kicked eight goals in the quarter to finish with 10 overall. Seagulls forward stalwarts Patrick Rose and Matt Little still managed to find the scoresheet through the Cats dominance. It all proved futile for the Cats but though the lackluster final quarter display from Seagulls would definitely leave a bitter taste in Williamstown's victory.
Williamstown 5.6 8.9 15.16 20.16 (136)
| Geelong 1.3 2.8 2.10 10.15 (75)
GOALS:Williamstown: Little 6 Rose 3 O'Keefe 2 Jolley 2 Grant 2 Langlands Reid Gotch Johnson Roughead
Geelong: Allwright 2 Stokes 2 McKenna 2 Podsiadly 2 Varcoe Johnson
BEST:Williamstown: Little Reid Callan Rose Stretton Gotch
Geelong: Stokes Lonergan West Firman Podsiadly Tenace
REPORTED PLAYERS:Williamstown: Nil
Geelong: Nil
Last Modified on 23/06/2009 14:37