Live: Irish sharpshooter kicks Cats clear ahead of Giants vs Tigers clash

A late goal to Jobe Shanahan gave the Eagles something, but when the siren goes they still find themselves 35 points down at Norwood.

The Cats have just had too much nous and ability where it counted. West Coast have had moments, but they just have not been able to stop Geelong’s scoring.

With a quarter to go, Andrew McQualter’s men will want to try and break even or even win the final term.

Stick with us to find out.

The Cats are still moving forward as three quarter time approaches.

They shifted the ball around before finding Brad Close 40 out.

He decided to snap the ball, but his kick was as skinny as the ground, and it barely went through the left behind post.

Geelong leads by 40 points.

It’s been a tough quarter for the Eagles, and that’s just made it even tougher.

They were moving the ball forward without much control, but then Geelong took it on half-back and surged forward.

The kick went to Sam De Koning in the middle, and then Harley Reid moved in and slapped De Koning’s arms. He dropped the ball, the umpire signalled 50, and a frustrated Reid rubbed angrily at his face.

De Koning’s kick goes through, and the lead is out to 38 points in time on.

That’s another one of those poor decisions by Harley Reid, who has 15 disposals and has set up a goal or two – but he keeps making these blues that must frustrate his coach no end.

That’s tough for the Eagles. They grabbed a couple of early goals, but they’ve been wiped out in quick time.

The Cats go inside 50 to a contest, and Ollie Henry gets a free.

He slots the set shot, and Geelong has the team’s 13th goal of the game.

We’re still in the first half of the third term.

Ok, so the Cats steady. they get it forward and Jeremy Cameron takes a mark.

He’s been a bit quiet so far,  but that was a good kick and he has two goals. The lead is back to 31 points.

West Coast are lifting, they hack the ball forward and a few handballs leads to a kick inside 50 for Jake Waterman to mark.

He gets it and kicks the goal! Two in a row for West Coast.

That was a lot better from West Coast!

They took the ball down the wing, the Cats earned a controversial free kick, but they got it back and went long – Liam Baker found Harley Reid who got the ball for Jack Graham.

Graham runs a few steps and thumps the ball home!

Great goal.

The Eagles started the third term well and put pressure on, but they couldn’t find a way to score.

Geelong cleared it to the wing, and it went out of play.

Then the stoppage just led to the Cats going down the wing, and Max Holmes chipped down the line for Shannon Neale in the right forward pocket.

He kicks it! The Cats get the early one.

Inside 50s: 31-25 Geelong

Clearances: 22-19 Geelong

Centre clearances: 7-7

Contested Possessions: 65-65

Uncontested Possessions: 108-87 Geelong

Marks Inside 50: 7-3 Geelong

Tackles: 43-31 Geelong

These stats show it’s not as bad as the margin suggests – the Eagles just had a bad few minutes at the end of the half and paid for it.

Clearances and contested possessions are close, and if West Coast can raise that pressure back to where it was the first quarter and a half, then they are a sneaky chance to get back in this one.

As we said, Mark O’Connor turned into the unexpected attacking star for Geelong in that second quarter, with three big goals.

However the Irishman will have to wait for the Match Review Panel’s report tomorrow to find out if he’s in a bit of trouble.

His bump on West Coast’s Willem Duursma did not land where he would have liked. O’Connor turned his body but hit Duursma flush on the jaw.

Thankfully for everyone, Duursma picked himself up and kicked an absolute beauty of a goal a few minutes later. But still, when you choose to bump you take the risk, and O’Connor might find himself out for a week depending what the MRP says.

The siren sounds to West Coast’s relief, but that quarter has been damaging for the Eagles.

The Cats kicked six goals to two, largely thanks to Irishman Mark O’Connor, and the lead is out to 30 points at the main break.

It’s not all been bad for West Coast – for large portions of the first half they took the game to Geelong, and the likes of Jobe Shanahan and Willem Duursma showed they have the ability to hit back.

But now Andrew McQualter needs to have a stern chat to his side at half-time, and reset for the third term.

The Eagles have to come out firing or this one could turn into a bad loss if they let things slip further.

What is happening here at Norwood?

Maybe it’s the local ground that’s making Mark O’Connor feel at home, but the Irishman is everywhere.

He’s just picked up a handball receive, run to 50 and unloaded another goal!

The Irishman must think he’s back in Killarney or Pairc an Aghasaigh in Dingle. The Cats don’t care, he’s on a heater and he has three goals.

This pressure is suddenly all on the Eagles, and Shannon Neale has done a great rundown tackle on the wing to set up another attack.

The ball pings around, but comes out to the left pocket, where Mark O’Connor kicks the belly of the ball from about 50, and somehow it floats home!

The Cats have another, and this one is getting away from West Coast a bit – they need the half-time siren to go right now.

A few warning signs here in the final minutes of the half, as Geelong are starting to find a way to move the ball better.

They went through the corridor there, and a lovely chip found Jeremy Cameron just inside 50.

He goes back and kicks it, and suddenly the Cats lead by 13 points. Over to West Coast…

The Cats are not scoring smoothly, you’d say, but they are getting the job done.

They went down the right and kicked to the hotspot, it came off hands and a pair of players ran for it near the goalline.

it went over the line, but it took a review to show that somehow Brad Close got a sliver of his foot to it in time.

It’s a goal, and Geelong lead by seven in time on.

You don’t know what’s happening next.

After a behind, the Cats go long and Archer Reid nails Mitch Edwards in the back in an aerial contest.

The free is there for unrealistic attempt, and Edwards kicks for goal – but it’s wide. The Cats lead again by the minimum.

West Coast are keeping up the pressure, and the Cats are making errors.

The Eagles took the turnover around forward 50, and it ended up with Harry Schoenberg kicking for goal – it missed, but they lead again by a point.

This is certainly not the state of the game we might have expected before the bounce today – but I’m loving the contest.

If you’re an Eagles fan, you can’t be unhappy with the team’s efort so far.

They’re not letting the Cats go here.

They cleared out of defence, and the booming kick went to Jobe Shanahan in the middle of the ground. The ball was knocked out by James Worpel, and the Cats didn’t stand the mark and it’s 50!

Shanahan kicks the goal, and we have scores level again.

The Cats are showing they are capable of using the length of the ground, getting the ball downfield and then kicking to contests to set up shots or stoppage.

That time a forward 50 stoppage led to James Worpel grabbing it, and the former Hawk snapped a great kick on his left, to put Geelong back in front.