CATS DEFEAT BOMBERS
Ben Jensen 10 June 2006

By Ben Jensen GEELONG, lead by Gary Ablett, Cameron Mooney, Paul Chapman Matthew Stokes and Matthew Scarlett defeated Essendon by seven goals in front of a good crowd of 43,600. The morale boosting win wasn't too tidy but was after all played against a side regularly struggling to be competitive - besides the three figure loss against Collingwood, Geelong has been competitive in every game.

Gary Ablett, fresh from clearing his name and earning the public praise of his father Gary Senior, was Geelong's best. He kicked four goals and gathered thirty-odd possessions, and spent a fair bit of time off the ground.

Fellow small forward / midfielder Paul Chapman enjoyed his time in the midfield, playing well up the ground when required. He managed to kick a goal, and shook off the mini-form slump of a fortnight.

In his third game Matthew Stokes had a night to remember, with three goals and a hand in others. Down back Matthew Scarlett, showing no signs of pining for teammate Tom Harley, put in a signature performance.

GEELONG 6.3 12.5 16.6 20.10 (130) DEFEATED
ESSENDON 2.3 5.4 9.7 13.10 (88)

GOALS: GEELONG: G Ablett 4 S Johnson 3 C Mooney 3 M Stokes 3 C Enright 2 B Ottens J Corey P Chapman D Milburn C Ling.
ESSENDON: S Lucas 3 A Monfries 2 R Dyson C Dempsey D Hille C Johns J Laycock J Reynolds A McPhee N Lovett-Murray.

BEST: GEELONG: P Chapman G Ablett J Bartel M Scarlett J Corey M Stokes C Mooney.
ESSENDON: D Fletcher S Lucas B Stanton M Johnson J Johnson.