On this day, 15 August 1970, South Melbourne fans flocked to Geelong’s Kardinia Park for the Round 20 clash with the Cats, full of hope and belief.
The Swans were in fourth position, but only one game ahead of the fourth-placed Geelong and a Swan victory would assure South would make the “final four” for the first time since 1945.
Geelong was just as desperate as South and held a huge home ground advantage as the Swans had not won at Kardinia Park for 12 years.
To make matters worse, the Swans went into the match without injured captain Bob Skilton, whose place in the South line-up went to Sid Catlin, who had played four games with Melbourne before joining the Swans in 1969.
Catlin proved to be a wonderful replacement and Melbourne’s Age newspaper reported that he pulled down mark after mark and kicked two vital goals.
Geelong started brilliantly to lead by 17 points at the first change, but inspired by midfielder Peter Bedford, the Swans hit back to level scores by half-time.
The Age described the clash as a “classic encounter”, with both sides throwing themselves into play because there was so much at stake.
Geelong led by a single point at the final break before the Swans launched a series of successful thrusts early in the final quarter.
The game was in the balance until the last minutes, with inaccurate Geelong shooting for goal proving costly.
The Cats had five set shots for goal in this quarter – and missed them all.
One of Geelong’s behinds proved to be a massive slice of luck for the Swans.
Geelong full-forward Doug Wade had a set shot for goal and South fans groaned in unison as it appeared the Cats would score a vital goal.
However, a fan standing in the outer threw an apple core at the ball and, miraculously, it hit the ball and caused it to swing away from goal for a behind.
The Swans breathed a collective sigh of relief and went on to win by seven points to finish the round in fourth position, two games and a big percentage margin ahead of Geelong with just two rounds to play.
South defeated Fitzroy the following week, but crashed to Collingwood in the final round before going down to St Kilda in the first semi-final.
The Age headline above the South-Geelong match report read: SOUTH WASN’T GOING TO LET CHANCE SLIP. A “kicker” headline just underneath this read: “The heart of almost every football follower went out to South Melbourne on Saturday and the Swans were in no mood to let their supporters down.”
Football writer Jim Robb suggested that, for South, it was a
“Grand Final” win. He added: “Grand Final? Yes, that’s how South approached the game and the four points earned meant more than victory.”
South’s hero was the unstoppable Bedford, who had 28 possessions and kicked four goals on his way to winning the 1970 Brownlow Medal.
South Melbourne 11.15 (81) d Geelong 10.14 (74)
SOUTH BEST: Bedford (best on ground), Murphy, Bennett, Catlin, Brice, McAuliffe.
SOUTH GOALS: Sudholz 4, Bedford 4, Catlin 2, Brice.
