GEELONG is one win away from its second VFLW appearance after outlasting Southern Saints by seven points in Saturday’s first semi-final at GMHBA Stadium.
After trailing by 11 points at half-time, a Georgia Clarke-inspired Cats kicked five goals to two after the main break to book a preliminary final match-up with Essendon next Saturday with a 6.4 (40) to 5.3 (33).
Leading by just a point at three-quarter time, Geelong coach Andrew Bruce was confident his team could outlast the visitors.
“We outworked them in that third quarter; we had a lot more tackles, we had a lot more possession of the football, and we thought we were really running on top of the ground, and they were dropping away a little bit, ” Bruce told Bay 93.9’s The Sideline View.
“We just thought if we could hit our forwards, then we would get really good opportunities, which we did at times.
“It was just about belief and understanding if we played well, we would get the result we wanted.”
After the Cats and Saints went goal-for-goal in the first half of the final quarter, AFL-listed midfielder Becky Webster kicked the crucial major to give Geelong a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining.
“They were pushing, so without about four minutes to go we threw Claudia Gunjaca behind the footy just to help us out a bit, and she stopped a couple of there pushes forward,” Bruce said.
“And we just managed to keep the footy on the inside for the last couple of minutes and get stoppage after stoppage.
“That helped us immensely.”
Georgia Clarke was the star for Geelong.
Clarke, the Cats’ leading goalkicker, kicked four major for the second time this season to take her tally for 2021 to 16.
Webster and Paige Sheppard were also impressive.
AFLW-listed Webster had 21 disposals, seven clearances and laid eight tackles.
Overlooked in the last two AFLW Drafts, Sheppard did her prospects no harm with 19 possessions and six marks.
The winner of the Geelong-Essendon preliminary final will meet Collingwood in the grand final after the Magpies held off the Bombers by seven points in the second semi-final at Victoria, 2.6 (18) to 1.5 (11).
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Geelong 0.2, 1.4, 3.4, 6.4 (40)
Southern Saints 1.2, 3.3, 3.3, 5.3 (33)
Goals; Geelong: G. Clarke 4, R. Webster, P. Sheppard
Southern Saints: G. De Angelis 2, A. Peck, K. Ripari, J. Matin
Best; Geelong: G. Clarke, P. Sheppard, R. Webster, M. Keryk, A. Johnson, C. Gunjaca
Southern Saints: G. De Angelis, A. Hynes, E. Vanderheym, A. Burke, T. Smith, H. Stuart
