SYDNEY’s seven-game winning streak has come to an end at the hands of a relentless Geelong.
The Swans were outplayed and outclassed by the Cats who won the battle of the two top-four sides by 27-points.
Geelong’s lead blew out to 38-points midway through the third term when fan favourite Bailey Smith got off the chain, collecting 18 disposals and hitting the scoreboard with a goal in the third quarter alone.
The Cats held on to the lead to win 15.17 (105) to Sydney’s 12.8 (80) in front of a packed house of 35,869 at GMHBA Stadium.
Sydney’s key forwards kept the Swans within reach heading into the final term with Charlie Curnow, Joel Amartey and Logan McDonald, who kicked two in a row before three-quarter time, reducing the margin to 14 points with a quarter remaining.
But just as Sydney looked like it was back in the equation, Geelong leaders Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield kicked the first two majors of the final term from 50m out on either side of the boundary to push the margin back out to 25-points.
A third to small forward Brad Close put the win out of reach of Dean Cox’s men, Sydney suffering its second loss for the season.
In further bad news for the Swans, they finished the game two players down on the bench following an ankle injury to recruit Malcolm Rosas, and dangerous forward Tom Papley coming off the ground in the final term with calf tightness.
Geelong had 10 individual goal scorers in the evenly spread performance with Cameron (three goals), Close (two) and Ollie Henry (two) kicking multiples for their side.
Gryan Miers continues to find form in his second game back from partially tearing his anterior cruciate ligament with 24 disposals and eight score involvements, and Lawson Humphries was arguably the game’s best, with 33 possessions, nine intercept possessions and eight score involvements off half-back.
A shining light for the Swans was the performance of key forward Amartey who finished the match with four goals, three which came in the first quarter when the game was tight.
GEELONG 3.4 8.10 12.13 15.17 (107)
SYDNEY 4.2 6.2 11.5 12.8 (80)
GOALS
Geelong: Cameron 3, O.Henry 2, Close 2, Humphries, Atkins, Mannagh, Martin, O’Sullivan, J.Henry, Smith
Sydney: Amarty 4, McDonald 2, Curnow 2, Cleary, McInerny, Heeney, Hanily
BEST
Geelong: Humphries, Smith, Edwards, Cameron, Holmes
Sydney: Amarty, Bice, Serong, Heeney, Mills
INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
Sydney: Malcolm Rosas (ankle), Papley (calf tightness)
LATE CHANGES
Geelong: Tanner Bruhn (managed) replaced by Jake Kolodjashnij
Sydney: Nil
Crowd: 35,869 at the GMHBA Stadium
