CATS THRASH MAGPIES, INTO THIRD CONSECUTIVE AFL GRAND FINAL
Ben Jensen 19 September 2009

By Ben Jensen AFL 2009 2ND PRELIMINARY FINAL GEELONG CATS V COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES GEELONG are into their third AFL Grand Final in a row, defeating Collingwood at the MCG by a massive margin of seventy-three points in front of a decent crowd of 87,258 at the MCG. The Cats will play St Kilda next Saturday afternoon, aiming for two Premierships inside three years.

GEELONG : 3.6, 7.7, 11.13, 17.18 (120) DEFEATED
COLLINGWOOD : 2.2, 5.8, 6.9, 6.11 (47)

GOALS
GEELONG: Chapman 5, Byrnes 2, Hawkins 2, Ablett 2, Varcoe 2, Ottens, Mooney, Johnson, Corey
COLLINGWOOD: Brown, Didak, Johnson, Lockyer, O'Brien, Macaffer

BEST
GEELONG: Scarlett, Enright, Ablett, Milburn, Bartel, Chapman, Mackie
COLLINGWOOD: Gilbee, Cooney, Boyd, Higgins, Lake, Akermanis

INJURIES
GEELONG: G Ablett P Chapman J Corey J Bartel H Taylor C Ling T Hawkins
COLLINGWOOD: S O'Bree B Johnson N Maxwell L Brown

UMPIRES: FIELD: Brett Rosebury (8) Scott McLaren (11) Shaun Ryan (25) EM: Simon Meredith (21) BOUNDARY: Adam Coote Cameron Ward Rob Haala Jamie Giles GOAL: Mark Canning David Dixon EM: Chris Appleton

CROWD: 87,258 at the MCG

Collingwood had the early play in the match, leading for half the opening term before the Cats got cracking, booting three unanswered goals. Both sides went pretty much goal for goal in the second quarter but as described earlier, Geelong should have pushed to a thirty point-plus lead. The Cats led Collingwood by fourteen points at half time, but should have led by over 30, Brad Ottens missing an easy chance and the Magpies taking advantage, kicking another two goals before the main break. At half time Chapman and Hawkins had two goals each for the Cats, Ablett, Byrnes and Ottens the other goal-kickers. For the Magpies Brown, Didak, Johnson, Lockyer and O'Brien had one goal each.

The Cats started the second half out of the blocks however, booting three early goals and missing a third to push to a thirrty-one point lead eight minutes into the third term. Mooney, Johnson and Corey kicked their first goals of the match, Johnson missing two other shots that would have really put the foot on the Magpies' throat. Macaffer kicked a goal for the Pies a second or so before the three quarter time siren; the Cats going into the final break thirty-six points ahead, and hoping to take things easy in the last quarter ahead of next Saturday afternoon's Grand Final against St Kilda at the MCG. But, Collingwood being what they are, Geelong will have to be on their guard this final thirty minutes, and keep attacking until the end.

Two minutes into the final term, Travis Varcoe got on the end of a turnover by Collingwood veteran Simon Prestigiacomo to boot his first goal and give the Cats a forty point lead. Paul Chapman's third goal a couple minutes later, created by Joel Corey and Jimmy Bartel's tenacity, was the genuine sealer that sent the Wobbler fans packing back home; the margin out to an unassailable forty six points. Gary Ablett was next to sneak one through and it was party time in all corners of the world as Geelong fans rejoiced in the knowledge they would be watching their side in another Grand Final next week. Unfortunately for this 'viewer' the person streaming the match at this point decided to play the Geelong, Collingwood and finally St Kilda theme songs over the top of the match audio, but it's free so we can't complain. We can complain, however, about ESPN's decision to show Rangers v Kilmarnock from the Scottish Premier League, a game sure to attract far fewer UK viewers than Geelong-Collingwood.

Paul Chapman slammed on three goals in the last ten minutes, his fifth of the game pushing the margin out to a massive 74 points. Neither side would kick another goal for the match, the final 7-8 minutes petering out as the Cats conserved energy and the Magpies gave up.

GEELONG COACH MARK THOMPSON SPEAKS TO CHANNEL TEN'S
KELLY UNDERWOOD AFTER THE GAME