Cats lay claim to promotion Rahilly's impressive showing during the convincing 45-point victory followed
up from his similarly strong effort against Werribee last week. Meanwhile Mooney gathered more than his fair share of possessions during
an excellent day on the ball. Geelong trailed by 15 points at the first change after a somewhat shaky
start but had the contest evened up by half time. The Cats broke out in front early on after the main break and kicked
11 goals to Sandringham's four in a sensational second half to eventually
prevail 16.12 (108) to 9.9 (63). ``After a slow start we were able to run away with it in the end,'' coach
Ron Watt said yesterday. ``Our commitment, especially in the second half when the game had to be
won, was excellent. ``We really stepped up a notch and seemed to be a bit better prepared
physically and more prepared to play four quarters of footy.'' Charlie Gardiner followed up from his four-goal haul from last week's
win with another solid effort across the Cats forward line. Veteran Tim McGrath provided plenty of drive from the Cats backline and
once again helped control the game from defence. Daniel Foster and Warwick Knuckey were also among the top performers for
Geelong. Steve Johnson was the leading goalkicker with three majors and was well
supported by Gardiner, Mooney, Andrew Carrazzo, Matthew McCarthy and Daniel
O'Brien who kicked two each for the day. Geelong remains at second position on the ladder after the win, behind
Box Hill. Watt said his side would be keen to record another win against Carlton
this weekend before a bye the following week. ``If we can get to the halfway mark of the season and be 8-2 we'll be
in a pretty good position,'' Watt said. Geelong will meet Carlton at Optus Oval on Saturday from 2pm for round
ten.
Monday, June 3
JAMES Rahilly and Cameron Mooney staked their respective
claims for promotion to Geelong's seniors side after outstanding performances
during the Cats VFL win over Sandringham at Trevor Barker Oval yesterday.