By Bruno Visentini
The Coburg Lions fell short against Geelong on Saturday, going down by 22 points in a match that felt far closer than the final margin would suggest.
It was a tale of two halves, with both sides finding it much easier to score in the first half before scoring seemed to dry up in the second, but ultimately it was the Cats who did enough to find themselves with their fifth win of the season and climb into third spot on the ladder.
Coburg had the dream start when Charlie Beasley kicked an early goal following a 50 metre penalty, and later when Ingo Dammersmith kicked the Lions’ second which saw Coburg jump out to an 11 point lead. Geelong wrestled momentum back into their favour though and kicked three consecutive goals to get in front by eight points.
A goal to Joel Trudgeon and a couple of behinds saw scores level late in the piece but Geelong got in front via a goal by Tanner Lovell and one more Coburg behind saw the Cats ahead by five points at the first change. The quarter was an arm wrestle with both sides having dominant patches and it was hard to pick which side was the better side, but Geelong had more fortunate moments that led to them leading the match.
The second term was a real shootout with both sides going goal-for-goal across the duration of the quarter. Both sides managed a behind each early on, but Geelong found the middle first when Lawson Humphries played on and sent one through the sticks. Ten minutes passed with both sides showing enough defensive pressure to stop each other from scoring, but Coburg broke through next when Will Bella marked near the 50 metre line and kicked Coburg’s first of the quarter.
Unlike the long scoreless patch before the last goal, Geelong wasted no time before scoring their next, but Coburg were back on the board just as quickly as Braedyn Gillard kicked his first of the match. Geelong kicked a behind to see the margin move to an even goal, but they extended the margin once again when Jhye Clark goaled with a set shot.
Kyle Weightman kicked Coburg’s next goal on the run but last year’s Norm Goss medallist Shaun Mannagh kicked one a minute later to send it back out to a two goal game. With time expiring, Josh D’Intinosante marked it from a kick that came from the pocket to kick the last goal of the quarter and trim Geelong’s lead back down to a goal at half time, the scores sitting at Coburg 46 to Geelong 52.
Much like the close margin suggested, the game had been a great contest so far and felt like non-stop action for the most part. Geelong seemed to score more goals from quick opportunities, but not to take credit away from either side, the game was winnable for anyone by this point. The stat sheet told a similar story with Coburg narrowly leading inside 50s (26-25) but Geelong had slightly more of the footy (205 disposals to 185).
The third quarter began and Geelong came out of the blocks quicker as Shaun Mannagh kicked the first of the term early on to extend the buffer to two goals, and after a behind each way, the Cats had another from Mitch Hardie who got on the end of some quick movement from end to end to push the margin out even further to 18 points.
Kyle Weightman gave Coburg some hope with a goal after earning a free kick from a strong tackle, and Giacomo Thomas added to that with his set shot for goal which saw the margin cut down to 8 points, but Geelong youngster Joe Pike kicked a goal soon after, his first in the VFL to put the margin where it sat at the final change – 14 points.
The third term was less of a goal-fest than the earlier two, but the final quarter got off to an even slower start. Geelong kicked the first behind of the quarter but try as they might, neither team was able to break through for another score for quite some time. Remarkably, the first goal of the quarter came at the 20-minute mark when Josh D’Intinosante kicked his second of the match.
The margin was back down to 9 points but both sides needed to be quick here given how little had been scored in the quarter so far. Geelong kicked a quick behind but managed to find their way to goal shortly after to push the margin to 16, and another Geelong goal sealed the deal, giving them the 22 point lead they carried to the end of the game. The final scores were Coburg 10.6 (66) to Geelong 13.10 (88)
Josh D’Intinosante was voted as Lion of the Round with his 2 goals, 17 disposals and 10 marks for the game, while Kyle Weightman was the only other player with multiple goals. Other standouts for the Lions included Flynn Gentile (32 disposals, 8 clearances), Joel Trudgeon (31 disposals, 1 goal, 7 tackles) and Donovan Toohey (30 disposals, 7 marks).
Coburg will have a rest next week with a bye in Round 9, but return to Piranha Park in Round 10 to take on Casey in what should be a good contest. The game will be on Saturday the 1st of June at 1:05pm and it would be fantastic to see the Coburg faithful back in full force to cheer the team on. Alternatively, the game can be streamed live on the AFL app and website for those who can’t make it to the game.
Scores:
Coburg 3.3 (21) | 7.4 (46) | 9.6 (60) | 10.6 (66)
Geelong 4.2 (26) | 8.4 (52) | 11.8 (74) | 13.10 (88)
Goals:
Coburg: Weightman, D’Intinosante (2), Trudgeon, Thomas, Gillard, Dammersmith, Beasley (1)
Geelong: Mannagh (3), Pike, Hardie, Clark (2), Lovell, Knevitt, Humphries, Foster (1)
