THE SYDNEY Swans have stormed home with four of the last five goals of the match, but fallen just short of a determined Geelong at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

The Swans lost by five points after being behind by 22 points early in the final term.

The final score was Geelong 13.14 (92) to the Swans 13.9 (87) after the Cats led by six points at half time.

It is the second time in three games that the Swans have lost by less than a goal after going down to the Saints by a point in round 18 at the SCG.

It also makes it likely that the Swans will miss the finals for the first time in Paul Roos' coaching tenure.

In the final analysis, the brilliance of Gary Ablett proved to be a key difference between the sides.

Ablett gathered 44 possessions, won eight clearances, put on four tackles, booted a goal and was clearly the best player on the ground.

While the Swans continued to fight hard and kick late goals near the end of each quarter, it was the cleaner and more precise use of the ball by the 2007 premiers that was another important difference between the two sides.

For the Swans none tried harder than Ryan O’Keefe, Jude Bolton and Brett Kirk while Adam Goodes, Michael O’Loughlin (three goals) and Jesse White were focal points in attack.

Rhyce Shaw also ran the ball well out of defence all night.

The Swans started the match slowly and found themselves behind by two goals within the first 10 minutes.

But goals to O'Loughlin and Jarred Moore (after the siren) cut the quarter-time deficit to just seven points.

The Cats again opened up a handy break in the second term until two very late Swans goals, one a beauty to Jesse White, cut their lead to just a goal.

The third term was an arm wrestle with each side having their turn at surging.

The Swans hit the front after Dan Hannebery's long running goal but the Cats fought back to again hold a 10-point margin at the last change.

The game opened up in the final term with the Cats booting three early goals with Goodes replying with one of the goals of the night, stepping around a sea of opponents to split the middle.

The Cats looked to have stolen a decisive 22-point break through quick majors to Byrnes and Mooney, but the Swans weren’t done yet.

They halved the deficit through O’Loughlin and Jude Bolton before an errant kick in defence by Moore handed Joel Corey a goal in reply.

Undeterred, the Swans continued to push forward and goals to Goodes and O’Keefe put the Swans within a kick to set up a nail biting final 10 minutes.

However, such was the pressure from both sides that O’Keefe’s goal was the last of the game.


Sydney Swans  2.3  5.5  8.7  13.9 (87)
Geelong        3.4  6.5  9.11  13.14 (92)

GOALS
Sydney Swans: O’Loughlin 3, Mattner 2, Goodes 2, Moore, Kirk, White, Hannebery, J Bolton, O’Keefe
Geelong: Byrnes 3, Mooney 3, Hawkins 2, S Johnson, Lonergan, Selwood, Ablett, Corey

BEST
Sydney Swans: J Bolton, Shaw, O’Keefe, Mattner, O’Loughlin, Goodes
Geelong: Ablett, Ling, Mackie, Bartel, Corey, D Johnson

Injuries
Sydney Swans: Ablett (knee)
Geelong: Varcoe (shoulder)

Reports: TBC

Umpires: Vozzo, Stevic, Jeffery
Official crowd: 40,261 at ANZ Stadium


The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs.