Sydney Swans almost throw game away against Geelong Cats

THE Swans have survived their second mighty scare in as many matches claiming a heart-stopping six-point victory over reigning premier Geelong.

Lewis Jetta

THE Swans survived their second mighty scare in as many matches on Friday night before claiming a heart-stopping six-point victory over reigning premier Geelong at the SCG.

Andrejs Everitt, the sub who replaced a rusty Adam Goodes, became the hero of the night when he kicked a difficult angle goal with little more than a minute remaining to regain the lead for Sydney.

For the second time in as many matches the Swans have given up a massive lead to a likely fellow finalist, not a good sign with matches against six of the other teams in the eight and ninth-placed Carlton in the last 10 rounds.

The Swans led by 35 points after An imposing first quarter, kicking 7.0 to 1.1, but like against Essendon in the previous game struggled to sustain the effort.

Essendon came back from 47 points down at three quarter time to almost steal the game and last night it appeared Geelong had pinched it.

Swans coach John Longmire claimed they had to get better when the game was tight.

“We just didn’t win the ball,” Longmire said. “At times there were 50-50 footies we needed to get a hold of and we didn’t do it.

“If the ball’s on the ground, whether it’s the first quarter or the last quarter, you’ve got to get hold of it.”

However Longmire praised his players for hanging on when they looked beaten.

“In the end it all comes down to the players and they were composed under pressure,” Longmire said. “I thought Andrejs Everitt kicking the last goal was certainly that.

“He did alright for us against Essendon a couple of weeks ago and he came on and did a good job for us tonight.”

Geelong kicked six goals in a row from midway through the third quarter until midway through the last, when the best player on the ground, Corey Enright, put the Cats in front for the first time in the match.

A brilliant individual effort by Kieren Jack regained the Swans the lead when he ran around the boundary to kick a wonderful goal with 10 minutes to play, but the joys of the Swans fans was short lived.

Tom Hawkins marked to put the Cats back in front again, booting his first goal after three bad misses earlier in the night, and with all the momentum it looked as though Geelong had the game won.

But Everitt had different ideas, marking strongly on the outer half-forward flank in front of the partly demolished Dally Messenger Stand before holding his nerve.

Even so, the Swans managed just five goals after quarter time compared to Geelong’s 10. 

However the grandstand finish enhanced Sydney’s push for more Friday night matches in front of a sell-out crowd approaching 30,000 at the partly demolished ground.

The Swans have staggered to the top of the ladder, although they will be replaced there Saturday afternoon by the winner of the Collingwood-West Coast match.

More significantly, Geelong’s narrow loss has left it two wins and percentage out of the top four, where teams need to finish to have any realistic chance of claiming the flag.

Goodes struggled to find his feet again after six weeks out with a quad strain. 

He had just three possessions to half time then missed a tentative set shot for goal early in the third quarter before raising his hand to the bench and leaving the ground for a rest a short time later.

Clearly spent, Goodes was eventually subbed off early in the last quarter with just seven possessions.

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