Cats Back On Top

Geelong have returned to the top of the AFL ladder after a hard fought 13 point victory over the Kangaroos at Docklands tonight.

The Cats held off North Melbourne 19.13 (127) to 17.12 (114) in front over 38,000 fans.

The premiers maintained a two-to-three goal advantage for much of the evening and proved too good for the spirited Kangaroos, with Cameron Mooney booting 7 goals and Gary Ablett collecting a career-best 39 possessions.

Despite the heroics of the Cats' stars, North Melbourne didn't go down without a fight and began the game with two of the first three goals, in an entertaining opening quarter.

Geelong soon swung the momentum back in the first term with Ablett racking up over a dozen touches in the opening stanza as the Cats went to the break ahead by 22 points.

The Kangaroos though fought back in the second term with opportunistic goals coming from Leigh Harding along with North's livewire forwards Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell who proved difficult for the Cats' defence, as Geelong saw key defender Matthew Scarlett go down injured with a worrying hamstring strain.

North Melbourne's 7 goal second quarter brought the game to life and the Roos kept pressing in the third term to get within a goal but never headed the Cats.

Ablett proved to be elusive though despite the best efforts of Roos' coach Dean Laidley applying tags in Daniel Harris, Ed Lower and Brady Rawlings, as the Geelong 2007 Best and Fairest winner kicked a crucial late goal in the third quarter to give the Cats a two-goal lead at the final break.

The Kangaroos would never fully recover as Mooney went on to kick a career-best 7 goals while Steve Johnson was continually a handful for North.

In the end, the Cats ran out 13 point victors, which sends them back to top of the league ladder ahead of Hawthorn, who can return to the summit with a win over Essendon tomorrow night.

Nonetheless, the Cats can savour a hard fought four points whilst North Melbourne's finals aspirations remain dodgy despite a decent performance.

Geelong 7.0 11.6 17.7 19.13.127
North Melbourne 3.2 10.4 15.7 17.12.114
Geelong goals; Mooney 7, Johnson 3, Lonergan 2, Ablett 2, Varcoe 2
best; Ablett, Bartel, Mooney, Johnson, Prismall, Kelly
North Melbourne goals; Hale 4, Campbell 3, Harvey 2, Petrie 2, Thomas 2
best; Harris, Petrie, Hale, Harvey
Crowd; 38,373 at Telstra Dome