Geelong Cats vs Western Bulldogs: AFL live scores, blog

Cats win defeating the Bulldogs by 44 points in an impressive game from both sides. A fine afternoon in Geelong saw the top of the ladder Cats face off against the Bulldogs 10th place Bulldogs. Gary Rohan got the goal scoring started for Geelong with a nice goal from 20 meters out after a strong mark. Less than a minute later again Rohan would mark the ball inside the Cats forward 50 and again he converted the kick to 6 points. The Bulldogs who had largely struggled to get the ball out of the centre to start the game managed to find a way through the Cats defence and Toby Maclean found himself lining up for their first attempt at goal. A free flowing few minutes followed with both teams trading goals. at the 17 minute mark of the quarter the Cats through a Patrick Dangerfield goal started to turn up the heat on the Dogs. Extending their lead to 19 points late in the term. The Bulldogs were called for a free kick due to not having enough people in their back line at the ball up which cost them a goal. A mark and goal with less than 10 seconds to play to Billy Gowers gave the Bulldogs a boost. A highlight for young Darcy Fort who kicked a goal from the boundary in his first AFL game late in the quarter An entertaining 2nd quarter saw the games momentum see saw at times. Geelong started the quarter strongly kicking the first goal of the quarter thanks to Tom Hawkins, this kick started a goal for goal shootout before the Bulldogs kicked two unanswered. With the Bulldogs only trailing by 5 points with 3 minutes left to play Geelong turned up the pressure with 3 straight goals of their own to take the lead out to 22 to end the term. Lachie Hunter was impressive for the Bulldogs in the first half with 15 disposals, Dangerfield looks strong with 17 disposals but it was the goal kicking from Gary Rohan that was the real difference maker in the first half. Geelong continued to hold off the Bulldogs in the third taking at 15 point lead in the final break. The third was again a see sawing battle, The Bulldogs stood tall at times thanks to 2 goals from Marcus Bontompelli. For each goal the Bulldogs kicked though Geelong found a way to reply, Tom Hawkins proved too strong at times but it was Mitch Duncan who was proving to be difficult for the Bulldogs to control in the quarter. The Bulldogs started the final quarter strongly kicking the opening goal and looked like they might pressure the cats some more in the quarter. The Cats responded as they had done all night, kicking two straight to get it back out to a 20 point lead. The Bulldogs wouldn’t get the score back to within 10 points as Geelong went on an absolute scoring spree kicking the next 6 goals to shut out the Bulldogs for good. The accurate kicking of the Cats proved to be the game winner as they were able to convert their chances throughout. A sour note for the Cats was the apparent injury to Patrick Dangerfield late in the fourth quarter, he was able to leave the ground with his own power however there was some significant discomfort from him as he left. Tom Stewart gave Liam Ryan a run for his money for mark of the round as he took an absolute screamer. The final score was not indicative of the actual game as the Dogs were competitive throughout, Mitch Duncan was the standout for both teams with 3 goals to go along with 25 disposals. Toby MacLean was impressive for the Bulldogs but wasn’t able to stand tall in the final term when the team needed him the most. Geelong 21. 7. 133 Bulldogs. 13. 11. 89

Game over as Geelong ends the game with a behind. Geelong 21.7.133 Bulldogs 12.12.89 End.

What a mark from Tom Stewart and he knows it was special. Smile from ear to ear when he landed.