GEELONG has strengthened its hold on a top-four spot with a 32-point win over an inaccurate North Melbourne in a scrappy and heated contest at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Led by a sparkling performance from midfielder Allen Christensen, the Cats won 16.15 (111) to 10.19 (79) and improved their record to 14-4.
The victory moved Chris Scott's men level on wins with the top-of-the table Sydney Swans.
Although both sides were coming off a week's break, North looked full of running during the opening stages and Geelong seemed a bit flat-footed.
But after the Kangaroos opened a 14-point lead midway through the first quarter, the Cats responded by kicking the next six goals.
They continued to have the game on their own terms after half-time, twice opening a 28-point lead.
North narrowed the gap to 10 points prior to the last change, but Geelong then ran away with the contest in the final quarter.
"We were pleased with the performance," Chris Scott said. "We've still got some things that we need to work on, but … we're starting to build and we're starting to get some players back that hadn't had much of a pre-season.
"While we still feel like our best footy is in front of us, today was a step forward."
Christensen, who missed Geelong's victory over Greater Western Sydney two weeks ago due to illness, was a brilliant four-quarter performer for the winners.
He finished with 29 disposals and a goal, while Mitch Duncan picked up 24 touches and slotted three majors.
Joel Selwood, Steven Motlop and Josh Caddy were among the other star performers in the Cats' running brigade.
Motlop kicked two goals and was denied a third after a belated goal review just seconds before the quarter-time siren found that his shot had hit the post.
Tom Hawkins was the dominant key forward in the game, booting three goals after having the better of his match-up against Scott Thompson.
Hawkins' effort took his season's tally to 51 majors and moved him up to second place on the Coleman Medal table, one goal behind Port Adelaide's Jay Schulz.
Geelong's defenders were also impressive, with Tom Lonergan holding Drew Petrie to one goal and only six disposals and Harry Taylor proving too good for Aaron Black.
Lonergan and Taylor also made an impression on the scoreboard, with both sneaking forward to boot their first goals of the season.
James Kelly, who was playing his 250th game, had an entertaining duel with Lindsay Thomas.
Kelly finished with 15 disposals, Thomas with three goals.
North Melbourne's best player was midfielder Levi Greenwood, who tallied a team-high 25 disposals and booted 1.2.
Ruckman Todd Goldstein was another solid performer. He proved too mobile for Geelong big man Dawson Simpson, who was a late inclusion after Hamish McIntosh was ruled out due to ankle soreness.
"I thought the start was really good," North coach Brad Scott said. "We gave ourselves enough opportunity to score. We probably didn't capitalise on that as much as we would have liked.
"But the story of the game for us was we got plus-10 in contested possessions, more inside 50s and our clearances were pretty good too.
"But we got scored against from our mistakes, and … they're an excellent counter-punching side with some real speed and penetration, and we couldn't counter that well enough."
The Kangaroos, whose record is now 10-8, remain sixth on the ladder.
But they will need to defeat Greater Western Sydney in Canberra next Saturday to sure up their position in the top eight.
Geelong will need to be on top of its game again next weekend when it hosts Fremantle in a Saturday night game at Simonds Stadium.
Andrew Mackie with a flying fist to spoil Lindsay Thomas' marking attempt. Picture: AFL Media
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.7 3.9 8.14 10.19 (79)
GEELONG 2.6 8.8 11.12 16.15 (111)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Thomas 3, Black 2, Greenwood, Harvey, Dal Santo, Daw, Petrie
Geelong: Duncan 3, Hawkins 3, Caddy 2, Motlop 2, Selwood, Taylor, Kersten, Christensen, Bartel, Lonergan
BEST
North Melbourne: Greenwood, Goldstein, Ziebell, Harvey, Dal Santo
Geelong: Christensen, Selwood, Duncan, Motlop, Bartel, Lonergan
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Geelong: McIntosh (ankle) replaced in the selected side by Simpson
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Leigh Adams replaced Aaron Mullett in the third quarter
Geelong: George Horlin-Smith replaced Shane Kersten in the final quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Bannister, Rosebury
Official crowd: 32,564 at Etihad Stadium
