AFL 2020: Geelong make light work of Port Adelaide – as it happened

• 1.15pm BST13:15 Geelong 14.7 (91) defeat Port Adelaide 4.7 (31)
• 12.36pm BST12:36 Three-quarter time - Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 7.7 (49)
• 11.50am BST11:50 Half time - Port Adelaide 1.6 (12) v Geelong 4.3 (27)
• 11.16am BST11:16 Quarter time - Port Adelaide 0.1 (1) v Geelong 2.3 (15)
• 10.26am BST10:26 Get in touch
• 10.26am BST10:26 Preamble

What a win for Geelong! Second on the ladder, and a ten-goal margin in a shortened game, one of the biggest wins of the year. Since July 27, what’s that... 18 days? They’ve played five matches. Two in Perth plus the switch to Brisbane. They were within a whisker of beating West Coast in the west, and aside from that they had Fremantle, North Melbourne, St Kilda and now Port Adelaide nowhere near them. That’s especially meaningful when it’s the top of the table side.

There has been a lot more chat about Geelong and flag favouritism during the past week, and it’ll increase after tonight. The caveat to that is that for the eight seasons preceding this one they’ve been great at making the finals and looking good doing so, and terrible once they get there. So forgive a bit of jadedness when these discussions come around again.

At the moment though, Hawkins is dominating this season, leading the Coleman by five now after kicking another six tonight. Gary Rohan has looked red-hot the last two matches, there’s a good spread of younger or less experienced players doing quality jobs, the midfield is working with rotations through there, and as has been true for every Geelong team that has done well since 2007, it’s all been based first on a very solid defence. A lot to like, and the usual to be skeptical about.

You do wonder what the significance of that is for Port. Is it just an aberration in a tricky season, one they shrug off at their next outing? Or does that throw them off? “Ain’t nothing gonna break my stride,” should be the anthem. Ken Hinkley has to get his charges back together.

Not sure anyone can claim exhaustion though, when the Cats have put these wins together in such an absurdly short window. They’re second on the ladder with the highest percentage in the comp, four points behind Port. Brisbane and West Coast complete the four, while St Kilda, Richmond, Collingwood and GWS make the eight.

That’s it for us tonight, thanks for your company as ever.

Q4: 1 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 4.7 (31) v Geelong 14.7 (91) Stewart and Tuohy take the Cats out of defence after an ineffective foray. Three contested marks in a row down the line: Blicavs, Stanley, Dangerfield. The latter pumps it to full forward with a minute to go. Who’s there but... Lachie Henderson? He’s managed to sneak forward and he takes the fourth mark of the sequence! Goes back and kicks a rare goal!

Q4: 3 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 4.7 (31) v Geelong 13.7 (85) Never mind, say the Cats, and take that goal right back. Loose ball in the left pocket from a bash forward, Hawkins wins it. Instead of trying to blaze for goal he plays the way he always does, looking for the best option, centred for Menegola to run by, pick up, and snap another.

Q4: 3 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 4.7 (31) v Geelong 12.7 (79) Port’s second goal from a 50-metre penalty tonight. Farrell marks 50 metres out, and the umpire decides that Parfitt didn’t steer clear sufficiently of the protected area while running past. There won’t be much Alberton cheering for that.

Q4: 4 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 12.7 (79) All Geelong in this final stages. Rhys Stanley wins the ruck at half back and again gets his own ball and wins a clearance. Rohan isn’t in position to mark on the wing but flies for a fist, getting a deflecting down into the path of Dangerfield. Without dropping from top gear, the Geelong star reels it in high over his head on the run, carries the ball to 70 out, then sends a perfect 60-metre pass to Fogarty near the goal square running back. Marks, goals.

Q4: 5 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 11.7 (73) Gee, Port really are cooked now. Just waiting for the siren. Geelong kick the ball around down back for a while before Stewart has the vision to see Bews on the wing just on from the bench. He gets a clear run forward, spreads to Tuohy in the pocket, who centres hard and low from the right. There are three Power plays there at the top of the goal square, and it clean bowls them all, leaving Rohan behind them all to snaffle it and poke it through for his third.

Q4: 8 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 10.7 (67) Blicavs again, he’s been huge tonight all over the ground. Rucks, follows up at ground level to win the ball, hands it wide to Guthrie running by. Long kick inside 50, and Port are rattled now. Rohan is dragged down by his back arm as he goes up to mark and wins the clear free. Kicks the shot from 35 out.

Q4: 9 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 9.7 (61) Goal! Oh, look at that. Wait, you can’t, this is a text blog. Ok. Guthrie did some smart work in defensive 50 in traffic to get around a tackle and find Tuohy with a handball. Tuohy thumps it long to half-back on the flank. Dangerfield is two on one, in the middle. He pulls down the mark regardless. Plays on, fakes left, right, left again. Sells the dummy, gets around the tackle, and kicks long to the advantage of Hawkins, 45 angle, 45 out. Hawkins nails the long set shot for his sixth.

Q4: 12 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 8.7 (55) That just looked too easy for the Cats. Down through the middle, players lining up for the possession. Henderson has floated forward into the 50 to handball wide. A little chip finds Rohan, who goes back and kicks the sealer. Five goals the difference, 11 minutes to go.

Q4: 13 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 7.7 (49) Nothing doing for Port early in the fourth quarter. They needed to start this in a blaze. Stanley wins a free kick in the middle, Cats go forward and bleed out some time on the half-forward flank. Port win a free but pump it out on the full. Get a slingshot going down the wing via Dixon but Boak is bumped off his kick and Blicavs marks the intercept.

For the first time tonight the story of the play is being told on the scoreboard. Geelong have been far better and now have a 24-point buffer. The TV goons are trying to pump up the idea that it’s not a huge lead, which is sorta kinda true, but usually a team that has battled to kick three goals all night, one from a 50 penalty, isn’t going to peel off five in a row in the last quarter. That said, the teams that win premierships do have to find ways to win when they shouldn’t, so if Port can find the pepper from here they’ll have done something impressive.

Q3: 1 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 3.7 (25) v Geelong 7.7 (49) Goal! Where did that come from? Port win a clean ball from the centre, bang it forward, and Georgiades the young forward gets a clear jump at it and marks contested. Footy’s easy when you play it like that. Kicks truly from right in front.

Q3: 2 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 2.7 (19) v Geelong 7.7 (49) And another one! Hawkins has five. It started in defence when Jack Henry got back to spoil Dixon. Length of the ground by Geelong, fast on the break, and long to Hawkins at the top of the goal square. In his style, he gets rid of his man, marks it, and decides to play on and snap the goal through.

Q3: 3 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 2.7 (19) v Geelong 6.7 (43) Goal! The Cats take it back. A lot of congestion and contesting at half-back for Port, back of the centre square. Hawkins is all alone in the forward 50 waiting. Eventually the ball breaks clear. Selwood, into the forward line, squared to Miers, handballs to Guthrie going by, and he’s able to kick across his body on the run from about 30 out. Four goals the difference again.

Q3: 5 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 2.7 (19) v Geelong 5.6 (36) There’s one for Port! Only their second for the night. Desperately needed. That’s what can happen when the ball stays in your forward line. Gray put pressure on at the kick-in, a couple of Cats fumbled, and Stewart collects Woodcock high. He kicks around the corner from the pocket and just sneaks it in, near post.

Q3: 7 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.7 (13) v Geelong 5.6 (36) Huge contest from Rohan on the half forward flank, got up high to bring a contested ball to ground, allowing Dangerfield to pick it up on the fly and measure a long kick across the forward line to Miers. He’s usually very accurate but misses his set shot from about 40 out. Port come down the other end, and I think that’s their first mark inside 50. Powell-Pepper, who has tried hard, marks it 49 metres out on the counterattack. He hooks it going for the distance.

Q3: 9 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.6 (12) v Geelong 5.5 (35) There’s the goal! The Cats change up their style, taking some time with short passes through the middle. It only ends because Bews drops a mark and has to play on. He bangs it long, what else would he do? And Clurey has Hawkins again, then doesn’t have him, as the Geelong forward shoves him away and chest-marks 20 out straight in front. Kicks his fourth. Looks like Jonas is changing to him now.

Q3: 10 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.6 (12) v Geelong 4.5 (29) Sam Simpson does a hamstring and comes off for the Cats. Blicavs just shoves Boak off the ball at half forward, finds Miers near 50, who goes long to Hawkins. Doesn’t mark in the end, wins it down to Parfitt, whose snap misses. Can’t put them away!

Q3: 13 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.6 (12) v Geelong 4.4 (28) We’re away in the third quarter. Dangerfield nearly wins the clearance again but has to slap it towards a teammate. Stewart on the wing gets it forward, all the way to the goalsquare but Port stand firm in the end. Sweep it the other way and have it in their forward line for a long time, but can’t get a clear run at the ball and can’t scramble a snap for goal. It comes out eventually via Selwood, down the wing, long inside 50, and Hawkins marks. His shot goes left to right as usual, but doesn’t come back far enough from the right pocket. Port still in it... McKenzie is on Hawkins now.

Channel Seven really trying some things with the playlist tonight. Welcome to the Jungle before the previous break, Skee-Lo this time around.

A few South Australians sounding pretty blue below the line. Or pretty teal, I guess. Buck up, you lot! It’s only a couple of goals.

If Port fans need any consolation, at least you don’t barrack for Adelaide?

MelbourneTown is in the comments section: “Brian Taylor on Lycett lining up for goal - ‘using all of his available time here and maybe a tiny bit more.’ Total time expired? 15 seconds!”

The less we say about that aspect of the broadcast, the better.

Strange sort of game so far. The Cats have been much the better, but only extended their lead by one point in that quarter. Two good minutes of footy by Port could wipe off that deficit. The top team haven’t looked on all night, they’ve been clunky and awkward and haven’t taken a mark up forward that I can remember. Geelong have Hawkins in excellent touch, but haven’t made full use of their advantage. Could easily see this tilt the other way if Port switch on.

Q2: 1 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.6 (12) v Geelong 4.3 (27) Butters is one of the league leaders for assists this season, and nearly has another. Port’s first really fluent fast passage of play all night, through the centre, long ball from Butters to Dixon one on one, but it just clears the key forward and Henderson sees it out of bounds. Amon scrubs another snap, this time from the opposite pocket, but that misses as well. They’ve collected two goals in inefficient fashion.

Q2: 3 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.5 (11) v Geelong 4.3 (27) The vibe has definitely swung back Port’s way the last few minutes. Geelong manage to squeeze forward at last. Jonas, I think, with a shocker of a kick out of 50 that could easily have cost a goal but Clurey gets across to spoil Miers from marking in the right pocket.

Q2: 5 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.5 (11) v Geelong 4.3 (27) Port pretty stiff not to be paid holding the ball against Henderson 40 metres from goal. The ball was shaken loose in the tackle, not disposed of. The Cats defenders share the ball through just about everyone on their backline. The ledger is squared perhaps when Parfitt nails Amon in a tackle in the centre square and isn’t rewarded either. Port get forward, and Powell-Pepper is lively again with the streamlined speedster’s shiny scone gleaming under the lights as he launches a long snap from the left pocket but hits the post. A similar scenario thirty seconds letter when Amon gets a shot from the same spot. Same result.

Q2: 8 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.3 (9) v Geelong 4.3 (27) Goal! Lovely response out of the middle, Blicavs winning the loose ball himself and forcing it forward with a tumbler. Duncan picks up the loose possession and makes amends immediately with a lace-out chip to Hawkins on the lead into the left pocket. It’s Hawkins’ wrong side, a 45-metre shot, steep angle, but he’s surgical.

Q2: 10 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 1.3 (9) v Geelong 3.3 (21) Goal! Port on the board thanks to Scott Lycett with a terrible orange moustache. It wasn’t down to good play, it was just Lycett marking on the wing and Mitch Duncan running in to block the mark when there was already someone on it. 50-metre penalty takes Lycett to within 30 of goal, and he dobs it. Cats don’t have much a lead.

Q2: 10 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.3 (3) v Geelong 3.3 (21) Nothing doing for Port from the throw-in. The ball leaves their forward line, then returns, but Bews hits it at pace and launches it way down the wing. Better from Clurey on Hawkins, who managed to spoil the mark and force it out of bounds. Hawkins retreats to the forward line and is there to contest for the ball again as it comes forward. A couple of throw-ins. Miers centres from the 50. Duursma clears but Bews marks, puts it back in. Cleared outside 50 on the other side of the ground at right half-forward. Dixon one on one with Harry Taylor, palms it one, Farrell goes off the ground trying to square the ball into the goal square, but it dribbles through.

Q2: 12 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.2 (2) v Geelong 3.3 (21) First shot at goal really for Port, from Farrell hard in the pocket after Guthrie handballed to the wrong team. But Farrell misses. Guthrie makes up for it on the wing on the way out, threading the needle to let Hawkins mark at half forward. Port manage to suppress the ball once it reaches the left pocket and get it out of bounds. Dangerfield wins the throw in but Tuohy’s kick is smothered. Powell-Pepper is trying hard for Port. Motlop marks outside 50. Hands off to Gray, to Boak, who kicks to full forward but it’s punched out. Dixon has a ton of Selleys No More Gaps up his nose and he’s furious at life.

Q2: 14 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.1 (1) v Geelong 3.3 (21) Goal! Some slippery work by O’Connor on the wing wins space in a contested area, and finds Dangerfield running towards 50, but he probably should have gone for home rather than trying to caress to Hawkins, whose path to the ball is cut off. Hawkins gets another chance a minute later though and holds a contested mark in the right forward pocket. That’s his spot, as a left-to-right kicker of the ball, he nails them from there most times, but he still centres unselfishly to find Charlie Atkins 30 metres out straight in front. Atkins doesn’t let him down with the set shot.

A couple of questions in the comments from View West and Dr Rudi about the cricket in September: I would love to be there, but the biosecure rules from the ECB mean that they’ve got a max of 12 reporters allowed at any match. So they’re not allowing any overseas folk for any of the tours. It’s unfortunate, but the way things go at the moment. There’s not much point me going if I can’t get into the ground, so I’ll have to settle for 4am off the telly for the first time in a long while.

“Top of the table clash, enjoy. Hope it’s a cracker for you Aussie Rules fans.” A bit of nice cross-code love from Harry of Oz in the comments. You’re a wizard, Harry.

Zach Tuohy saves Port from the ignominy of a scoreless first quarter by walking over a behind after a long ball clears the pack into the goal square. It’s really not that big a deal at the moment though, with these short quarters and Geelong not capitalising on dominating the early exchanges. Aside from the behinds there was also an out-on-the-full shot from Miers as he ran deep into the right pocket to get his hook-foot technique some distance from close to 50.

Q1: 1 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 2.3 (15) Woodcock takes the advantage after Fogarty is caught with the ball on the wing. Goes long but Stanley fists it out of bounds. Cats clear from the throw-in.

Q1: 2 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 2.3 (15) Phenomenal tackle by Atkins at half back as Byrne-Jones picks up a loose ball and doesn’t realise there’s a killer in the house with him. Nailed him. Dixon is off with a blood rule after copping a stray hand in the nose from Blicavs in a marking contest. Out of bounds in Port’s forward pocket.

Q1: 4 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 2.3 (15) Dangerfield wins another ball in spectacular fashion, clears back to O’Connor who goes long to half forward, but Clurey leaves Hawkins and rises high to punch to the line. Geelong are so well set up at half back though that they win the ball back. Back it goes, through Miers on the wing, on to Rohan, who finds Hawkins deep in the left pocket! Right on the line. While Clurey is busy remonstrating for out on the full, Hawkins centres to Simpson, but his set shot hits the post. Port could be a couple further down here.

Q1: 6 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 2.2 (14) A misssed set shot from Mitch Duncan deep in the right pocket extends the lead by one. Port haven’t had much of the footy. “Jonas to Hawkins please,” says Dr Rudi.

Q1: 8 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 2.1 (13) Travis Boak wins possession in the middle after Atkins cleans up McKenzie contesting a loose ball but the ricochet spills Port’s way. His ball going forward is swamped by defenders at centre-half forward. A fast chain of handballs gets Geelong out of defence and back down the wing.

Kolodjashnij gets a handall receive while charging through the centre square, and a long kick forward advantages Hawkins, who bodies Clurey out of the way, marks, and converts from right in front. He’s top of the Coleman count by two!

Q1: 10 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 1.1 (7) A similar play on the other wing now, Menegola the player in space but his kick doesn’t find a target and gets punched out of bounds. It comes back to Guthrie but his centreing kick is cut off by Robbie Gray getting back to help out in defence. Port get the run of the field now, Amon dodging Menegola on the win, getting it inside 50 for a throw in.

Q1: 12 mins remaining: Port Adelaide 0.0 (0) v Geelong 1.1 (7) Fairly cagey in the early stages. Dangerfield wins the first centre clearance but can’t make anything of it. The sides test each other out a bit, Geelong’s defence doing the business in intercepting the ball, and Hawkins missing a rushed snap when it goes forward. After a few minutes there’s the first really clean passage of play, breaking out of Port’s forward line, finding Dangerfield on the wing, who runs into space and puts it long to Hawkins in a one-on-one. He marks, plays on, runs into an open goal.

Jude from Port is excited already. “I am extremely nervous but hoping the glorious Port boys have a great game at the Portricon. Undefeated there so far.”

This is the way the legends of ground and teams evolve. Port, unbeatable on the Gold Coast. Who knew?

The teams, from back lines to forward lines.

Geelong

Mark Blicavs, Lachie Henderson, Jack Henry

Zach Tuohy, Harry Taylor, Tom Stewart

Sam Menegola, Lachie Fogarty, Mark O’Conner

Tom Atkins, Tom Hawkins, Jake Kolodjashnij

Gryan Miers, Cameron Guthrie, Gary Rohan

Ruck: Rhys Stanley, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood

Bench: Brandan Parfitt, Mitch Duncan, Jed Bews, Sam Simpson

Port Adelaide

Trent McKenzie, Tom Clurey, Tom Jonas

Dan Houston, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Hamish Hartlett

Xavier Duursma, Tom Rockliff, Karl Amon

Steven Motlop, Zak Butters, Boyd Woodcock

Peter Ladhams, Robbie Gray, Charlie Dixon

Ruck: Scott Lycett, Travis Boak, Ollie Wines

Bench: Sam Powell-Pepper, Mitch Georgiades, Kane Farrell, Sam Mayes

You can leave comments in the section below the line and I’ll try to keep an eye on them and the action at the same time.

Geoff Lemon

Good evening Australian time, or wherever else you may be around the world, for a Friday night corker between the top side, Port Adelaide, and the third, Geelong. Port have been flying in this interrupted season, harvesting nine wins out of eleven attempts so far. The Cats have been much more up and down, but they’ve turned in a remarkable performance in their hectic last couple of weeks, winning three out of the last four despite travelling from Perth to Brisbane with four-day breaks between games. Now they’re on the Gold Coast, at the world-renowned Metricon Stadium, which is holding up surprisingly well given all the traffic it’s had this season compared to its very light usage in the past.

Sam Mayes and former Cat Steven Motlop are back for the Power, with Cam Sutcliffe and Jarrod Lienert dropped. Lachie Fogarty and Sam Simpson are two young guns coming in for Geelong, with Brad Close and Jack Steven getting a rest after playing in the win over St Kilda on Monday.

Should be a fun game, let’s do it.