The Cats had lost their past two encounters against Carlton but ran away easy winners, 18.13 (121) to 12.7 (79).
But Geelong’s joy was tarnished after four-goal star James Podsiadly collected Bryce Gibbs high in the second quarter.
Umpire Matthew Nicholls had a long discussion with the Cat forward and he will be sure to come under scrutiny from the match review panel.
Speaking after the game Geelong coach Mark Thompson praised Podsiadly for his performance in the win and said he was hoping and praying that he wouldn’t miss any games through suspension.
“His form has been sensational, I’m really glad he’s come out [of] that little bad period and played some exciting footy and hitting the ball hard and making a contest,” Thompson said.
“The incident, well, we’ll just have to leave it for the match review panel and fingers crossed that it doesn’t look as bad and we get a good result.”
Paul Chapman was excellent for Geelong out of the middle while Marc Murphy flew the flag for the Blues in his 100th game.
Andrew Carrazzo kept Gary Ablett quiet for most of the game but the Brownlow Medallist sparked up in the second half with four goals as a small forward, three of which came in the final quarter.
Ablett’s left hand was heavily strapped for most of the game and he appeared to be favouring it after an incident in the third quarter when it was stepped on by a Carlton player in a ground-level contest.
Mitch Robinson was serviceable as a defensive forward on Corey Enright but the Geelong half-back got away too often to be a part of the Cats’ attack through the corridor.
Geelong was the better side but they struggled to shake the Blues, who kept peppering them with five-minute bursts of dominance in middle of the game.
Carlton’s best passage of the game was early in the third term when they continually won the ball out of the middle and fired it into attack.
But their wasteful kicking for goal kept them from securing the lead. Shaun Grigg, Jeff Garlett and David Ellard were among the culprits who missed gettable shots.
Carlton coach Brett Ratten said the final margin was not an accurate reflection of his side’s efforts.
“I thought it was probably 28 points, somewhere around that mark. About a five-goal defeat. At the end we were kicking the ball in our 50 and it went under blokes’ feet or we didn’t get that opportunity. I thought we played a little bit better than what the scoreboard said,” Ratten said.
“We were still off the pace in the first half. If we didn’t kick straight it might’ve been a different proposition going in to the second half of the game.”
Lachlan Henderson played his best game in Carlton colours. With Brendan Fevola watching on from the stands, his direct replacement managed something his predecessor rarely achieved - a victory over Matthew Scarlett.
Geelong’s depth was highlighted by a promising effort from second-game forward Daniel Menzel, who continued to push his claim for a berth in the Cats' finals team.
The Cats are now in the box seat to finish second on the ladder behind likely minor premier Collingwood, while Carlton must defeat Fremantle at Subiaco in round 22 to ensure a home elimination final.
Geelong 5.3 11.7 14.8 18.13 (121)
Carlton 5.2 8.3 10.7 12.7 (79)
GOALS
Geelong: Podsiadly 4, Ablett 4, Menzel 3, Hawkins 2, Bartel, Byrnes, Johnson, Stokes, Varcoe
Carlton: Henderson 3, Waite 3, Robinson 3, Judd, Simpson, Warnock
BEST
Geelong: Chapman, Enright, Bartel, Podsiadly, Ablett, Hawkins, Johnson, Milburn
Carlton: Gibbs, Murphy, Carrazzo, Judd, Henderson, Simpson, Robinson
INJURIES
Geelong: Andrew Mackie (virus) replaced in selected side by Taylor Hunt
Carlton: Aaron Joseph replaced in selected side by Andrew Walker, Shaun Hampson replaced in selected side by Sam Jacobs
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Vozzo, McBurney, Nicholls
Official crowd: 45,172 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
