Power show they are a force to be reckoned with his AFL season with massive win.
Port Adelaide has surged to the top of the AFL ladder after torching the Geelong Cats by 40 points at the Adelaide Oval.
Ken Hinkley’s side sent a message to the rest of the cometition in the top of the table clash, as they surged to the lead in the second quarter and never let it go, winning in front of a bumper crowd of 47,007.
Port dominated around stoppages all game, and showed their class in turning that possession into points in what was just one of the key performance indicators for the home team’s win 16.11 (107) to 9.13 (67).
The away side peppered away at the goal in the first quarter, but after five inside 50s to nil the Cats only had three behinds to their name.
Eventually the dam wall broke for the Cats, as Steven Johnson snapped with his right foot to give his side the first major for the game.
Matthew Lobbe continued to show his improvement in front of goal as he gave the bumper crowd something to cheer about as he slotted his side’s first major for the day.
Hawkins got his first for the day when he showed great strength to shake the marking player as the frenetic pace to the opening quarter continued, before Aaron Young loaded up and banged one home from beyond fifty, as the home side stayed in touch.
Port hit the lead for the first time in the game when Hamish Hartlett cleaned up a spoiled mark well, only to see the Cats regain the front-running seconds later when Josh Walker kicked truly.
The see-sawing quarter continued as Ollie Wines kept the ball in play well before Matt White run in on goal to cap an exciting first quarter, with Cats taking a two-point lead in a pulsating opening salvo to the game.
Geelong started the second as they did the first quarter, with the away side dominating territory with the ball camped forward of the centre circle, but they were unable to turn that into a handy lead due to some determined work in defence by Port.
Robbie Gray gave his side the lead when he kicked from fifty, in what was a settler in front of goal for him having already racked up some good touches around the ground.
White ensured the Power was able to captalise on some good lead-up work by goaling with 10 minutes remaining in the second term, as they showcased what they could do when they kept the ball on the ground.
Too often high kicks into their forward fifty were spoiled, with the home side needing to get a taller target.
Port bagged three goals in a row as they took a stranglehold on the game as jumped out to a 13-point lead with six minute left in the quarter.
Travis Boak capped his side’s sensational second quarter as he ran into an open goal in the shadows of half-time, kicking his side’s fourth goal for the term as the Cats quickly were dropped, not having scored at all.
Schulz kicked his side’s first for the third term as Port grabbed a very healthy four goal lead as their skills across the ground continued to shine.
Winguard rebounded from his slow start to the game as he took a strong mark in traffic and the game which promised to go to the wire threatened to get out of hand for the Cats.
Gray bagged his side’s seventh goal in a row as they gapped the Cats by 36, and sending a loud and clear message to the rest of the AFL, in a game that featured the two best teams on the ladder entering the weekend.
Geelong’s structure began to break down in the third as the scoreboard pressure began to tell on Chris Scott’s men, with the ball simply bombed into forward fifty rather than guided in, making the defensive job got Port’s backline that much easier.
Two goals to Geelong saw them maybe enter the last change with a chance of an upset, but Port replied well and again took their lead out to six goals.
Hawkins scored the vital first goal for the Cats in the final term, but with the margin was still very much in favour of the home side.
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