THE BRISBANE Lions face an uphill battle to play finals football in 2007 after falling to Geelong by 50 points at Skilled Stadium.
The Lions showed flashes of form in difficult conditions, recovering from a goalless first half to cut the margin to 19 points at three-quarter time.
But they could not sustain their pressure, nor control the ladder-leading Cats once they took control in the final quarter, falling 12.13 (85) to 5.5 (35).
Consistent ballwinners Nigel Lappin and Josh Drummond were the Lions’ best on an afternoon when style took a back seat, with Mt Gravatt teenager Albert Proud’s promising debut was another positive.
Ruckman Jamie Charman did well keep the Lions in the game in the first half, holding his own against both Mark Blake and Brad Ottens.
Sideways rain before the opening bounce dictated the style of play, with long balls, big packs and kicks off the ground the order of the day.
The Lions kicked with a 2-3-goal breeze in the opening term, but were hampered by the heavy conditions, and Geelong’s Andrew Mackie kicked the only goal of the quarter, an opportunistic snap from the left forward pocket.
First-gamer Albert Proud had the Lions’ best chance, but even that was a difficult 40m shot from near the boundary line.
A burst of sunshine improved the quality of play in the second quarter, with Geelong employing 60m torpedos to move forward.
Paul Chapman capitalised, staying on his feet and running into an open goal for the game’s second goal after more than 40 minutes of play.
The Lions seemed to have done enough into the wind to keep the game close, but comeback Cat Steve Johnson kicked one goal and set up another in time-on to open up a 28-point Geelong lead – more than handy in the circumstances.
Going into the main break with just four behinds on the board was disappointing by any measurement, and the side showed heart to kick four goals in the third quarter.
Richard Hadley needed just 45 seconds for the opener, and Joel Macdonald added another inside four minutes to cut the gap to 16 points.
Champion forward Jonathan Brown drifted up the ground to better effect, after the Cats double teamed him despite the weather limiting forward delivery in the first half to speculative long punts.
To begin the final term with a sniff, the Lions needed to keep Geelong’s forwards quiet, and after Robert Copeland badly misjudged a marking contest to let Nathan Ablett goal, the job always seemed too tough.
Johnson’s second goal pushed the margin back beyond five goals.
To their credit the Lions again rallied, and Brown stepped up with a magnificent solo goal. He gathered the ball in heavy traffic in the right forward pocket and slung it over his shoulder for one of the highlights of the afternoon.
That inspired a late passage that reaped another goal to Joel Patfull and reduced the margin to a manageable 19 points at three-quarter time.
But after Brown’s second cancelled out Johnson’s third in the final term, the Lions were helpless to prevent Geelong adding gloss to the win.
Geelong 1.4 4.8 6.12 12.13 (85)
Brisbane Lions 0.2 0.4 4.5 5.5 (35)
GOALS
Geelong: Johnson 3, G Ablett, N Ablett, Bartel, Chapman, Mackie, Mooney, Stokes, Varcoe, Wojcinski
Brisbane Lions: Brown 2, Hadley, J Macdonald, Patfull
BEST
Geelong: G Ablett, J Selwood, Johnson, Egan, Bartel, Scarlett
Brisbane Lions: Drummond, Lappin, Charman, Brennan, Brown, Rischitelli, Adcock
Umpires: M Stevic B Allen C Kamolins
Official crowd: 21,212 at Skilled Stadium
Final details to follow…
