Fairytale falls short after Ollie Dempsey’s all-time screamer in Cats win

Ollie Dempsey ignited the MCG with a sensational hanger before Jack Crisp’s shot after the siren drifted agonisingly wide in an AFL classic.

Ollie Dempsey’s mark of the year contender lit up the MCG before the Cats dodged a huge bullet after milestone man Jack Crisp’s agonising miss after the siren gave Geelong a three-point win.

Crisp had a shot on goal for the fairytale finish, but pushed it to the right as the Cats hung on for a thrilling 13.12 (90) to 12.15 (87) win in front of 82,514 fans.

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In a controversial finish, Bobby Hill was penalised for a trip on Shaun Mannagh with just over two minutes left when he chased down the Cats forward.

The Pies then kicked a goal with 20 seconds left through Brody Mihocek, but they just fell short of a stunning comeback after Crisp’s late miss.

Jack Crisp missed a shot at victory after the siren. Picture: Michael Klein

Crisp fronted up to Fox Footy after the game and talked about the ending.

“A lot’s going through my mind. I was feeling confident in my ability to kick the goal at the end there,” he said.

“But it wasn’t to be. After an emotional week, feeling the love from everyone, to finally finish the game out I’m pretty exhausted but credit to Geelong.

“I had lots of blokes telling me ‘this is what dreams are made of’, then it was just about routine.”

Crisp was then shown a replay as he talked, stating: “We practice these scenarios, here we go I’ll watch myself miss it and feel sad again.

“I got the distance easy, it was just about the accuracy.”

Crisp reacts after the missed shot. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Collingwood came into the match riding a six-game winning streak that had carried them to the top of the AFL ladder.

Pre-game there were celebrations for Crisp, who broke the legendary Jim Stynes’ longstanding record with his 245th consecutive match.

When the action got underway, the Cats kicked the first three goals of the game to make an early statement before the Pies hit back through Bobby Hill.

Then with just over nine minutes left in the opening term, Tyson Stengle’s forward entry sat perfectly for Dempsey to use Steele Sidebottom as the unfortunate launching pad.

Ollie Dempsey takes flight at the MCG. Picture: Michael Klein

Another angle of the hanger. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The 22-year-old Dempsey, Geelong’s young player of the year in 2024, put his knee into Sidebottom’s head and plucked the Sherrin with two hands in comfortably one of the best marks of the young season.

“Stengle sends it forward, Dempsey will come from behind and take a big hanger over Sidebottom,” Mark Howard screamed on Fox Footy.

“And a big smile too, why wouldn’t you in front of 80,000?”

Jason Dunstall added: “I reckon Steele Sidebottom knew he was in trouble. He was sitting under that ball.

Jack Crisp with wife Mikayla and their daughters before the game. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“You’ve still got to time your run perfectly to pull this off. That is a great leap, he’s an excitement machine. Just sat on his head. How good?”

Garry Lyon had some sympathy for 338-game veteran Sidebottom when he said: “That’s the last thing you need at 34 years of age, to be standing under that and cop a knee to the head.”

The Pies slotted the last three goals of the quarter to lead by three points at the first break, but plenty were still talking about Dempsey’s masterpiece.

AFL Nation wrote on X: “Dempsey soars to the stars and takes a screamer! That’s one for the highlight reel! He settles down and kicks a goal.”

Baggers said: “What a mark, gotta say I love seeing how chuffed he was with that as well.”

An account called Miley Virus stated: “One of the more perfect hangers you’ll ever see.”

Patrick Dangerfield kicked a key late goal for the Cats. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Geelong fan Kat wrote “hand over mark of the year right now” and then followed up with “hang it in the Louvre”.

The Pies held a seven-point edge at the long break and when Collingwood broke open a 20-point lead in the third quarter, it looked like they could run away with the four points.

But the desperate Cats, coming off last week’s three-goal loss to Carlton, again responded to close to within seven once more heading into the last term.

When Ollie Henry kicked his second early in the fourth quarter, Geelong took the lead for the first time since the opening term.

The Cats then looked like powering to the finish line before the Pies had one last charge, with a host of controversial moments prior to Crisp’s miss after the siren.

Originally published as Fairytale falls short after Ollie Dempsey’s all-time screamer in Cats win