Miracle man Patrick Dangerfield has conjured a late moment of magic to lift Geelong to a heart-stopping two-point AFL victory over Port Adelaide at Simonds Stadium.
In a tense and tight encounter where the margin never got beyond 12 points for either side, it was the 2016 Brownlow medallist who had the final say.
With less than two minutes remaining and the home team two points in arrears, skipper Joel Selwood’s scrappy kick from a stoppage fell to Dangerfield, whose instinctive left-footed kick flew through for a goal from a tight angle.
The Power had one last chance to snatch victory, but defender Tom Stewart snuffed out the danger by preventing the dangerous Robbie Gray from taking a mark when well within scoring range.
The Power will also rue a controversial umpiring decision in the fourth quarter when big forward Charlie Dixon was ruled to have taken too long over a set shot for goal and was tackled by Mitch Duncan after being called to play on.
The 11.15 (81) to 11.13 (79) victory improved the Cats’ win-loss record to 7-3, while the Power slipped to 5-4 having had the bye last week.
Dangerfield and Gray ended the night with three goals apiece, making them the only multiple goalscorers on the ground.
As is so often the case, the indefatigable Selwood was the best player on the park in the final quarter, taking a spectacular high mark and amassing 10 possessions to end the night with a game-high 33.
“It’s always a relief when you win,” said Cats coach Chris Scott.
“I feel relieved when you win by 10 goals and you feel that by 10 when you win by two points or whatever it was and it looked for all intents and purposes that we were going to lose it late.
“They played well.
“I think we’re starting to get a picture around who the best teams in the competition are.
“I’m still not sure, we’re still not sure ourselves, but we suspect they’re up there, so it was a good performance to get over the line.”
The opening quarter was a contrast between Port’s efficiency and the home team’s wastefulness.
The Power were able to convert a meagre eight inside-50s into three goals, while the Cats could only manage one major from their 18 forward-50 entries as they trailed by eight points at the first break.
Dixon lifted the intensity in the opening minute of the second term with a crunching bump on Selwood, which appeared to be hard but fair.
Dangerfield burst to life in the second quarter, kicking two goals and setting up another one for Tom Hawkins.
The arm wrestle continued throughout the second half on a night when Geelong also celebrated the 10th anniversary of their drought-breaking 2007 flag.
Gary Ablett was the only member of the 2007 premiership team not at Simonds Stadium on Thursday night.
The Gold Coast star will miss Saturday’s match against Melbourne in Alice Springs with a shoulder complaint, but still chose not to make the trip to Geelong to join in the festivities.
Pelican
Guest
It happened before the 30 seconds was up. He ran through to go and pick up Westhoff
Gecko
Guest
Can't anyone run into the exclusion zone once the umpire has called play on?
Darren
Guest
Just talking about last night Cat but do you have a ladder for supporters agreeing with umpiring of their team?
Pelican
Guest
Duncan ran through the exclusion zone according to Duck it should have been 50 and Lingy agreed after watching the replay. Was just on the television
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Yep he's a bit eccentric.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Yeah but Brown at least looks funny as he runs in. :)
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Ben Brown goes back a mile before commencing his run.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
No, the run up (or slow walk in Saad's case) as a time wasting factor to get around the shot clock.
Cat
Roar Guru
Really? The time wasting is why the shot clock was brought in. Previously players used to stop to take their mouth guard out, tie their shoes, rearrange their jock, throw grass, anything they could think of to take as long as possible. Hawkins used to be one of the biggest time wasters with socks and shoelace maintenance before every kick.
Cat
Roar Guru
Ranked 14th - that's some armchair ride. http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_team_rankings?year=2017&type=DA&sby=8
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWXG1OlmMVQ Indeed he did. I never thought about the time wasting factor until last night.
Darren
Guest
I agree...some teams seem to get 51% of the 50/50's and as a neutral supporter last night I thought the umps were tougher on Port.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Ahmed Saad used to do just that, surely
Birdman
Guest
"I cannot recall a single incident prior to last night of seeing the clock reach 0 and the player not starting their run up" "How can it be ‘out of the box’"......? Cat, you do see how contradictory these two statements of yours are?
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
TBH — I didn't realise the run up wasn't included in the 30 seconds until last night. It's something I never really thought about when playing footy myself, nor an issue. Would be so good seeing someone take the p!$$ just to annoy the AFL.
Cat
Roar Guru
Been waiting a long time for someone to do that. I always thought the 30 sec should include the run up for that reason.
Cat
Roar Guru
How can it be 'out of the box' when there is no box to even compare it to? Show me incident of a player kicking for goal where the countdown clock has hit 0 and the player is allowed to continue to stand there not running up. There is nothing unusual about the call because it has never before had to be made. Basic game awareness and the verbal warning that was given has been enough for all previous players to start their run up. Dixon for whatever reason didn't. He paid the price that the rules state.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Dixon needs to stand back another 100 metres. He can then start walking for another 30 seconds, slowly, until he gets into his kicking routine range. Problem solved — excellent way to ice a game also.
Birdman
Guest
I didn't say it was a wrong call but that incident was certainly out of the box as you concede yourself. I would say that the vicinity of the Geelong players to Dixon looked more of an issue but that may be more perception on my part than technical breaches.
me too
Roar Rookie
The umpiring was awfully one sided, and a major reason the Cats won, but the Dixon incident was one that they got right.