A dominant second half has delivered the Bendigo Bank Cats their first win under lights
at Simonds Stadium in convincing fashion, overcoming a determined Collingwood side in soggy conditions on Friday night.

A loyal following braved the cold and rainy eve to witness the historic victory, Geelong:
17.15 (117) defeated Collingwood 10.14 (74).

The ‘Pies were in hot form coming off a win over top four contenders Box Hill the week
before and made the Cats earn their win this week.  

“They (Collingwood) were excellent around the ball, as in their tackling was quite ferocious”
Cats coach Matthew Knights said after the game.

“They put us under a lot of pressure, probably as much as anyone has done for the past
three or four weeks”.

“At halftime we knew we had a game on our hands, and the guys essentially adjusted in
the second half and were able to get a lot more momentum out of the stoppages”.

An eleven goal to six second half came about as an answer to the Magpies challenge that
saw the Cats relinquish their narrow halftime lead when Collingwood hit the front in the third term.

The Cats pushed out to a nineteen point lead at the final change and never looked back,
thrashing the Magpies at the contested ball in the final term, 54-36.

Two goals early in the final term to Jordan Schroder all but assured the Cats victory,
Schroder amongst the Cats best alongside Corrigan and Horlin-Smith in the midfield, all with big performances throughout the night.

Schroder finished with 16 touches, 8 hard ball gets and 9 clearances to go with his bag
of four in front of goal.

No less than nineteen Cats hit double figures for possessions, as the conditions forced
the team to share the heavily contested ball around.

Key defensive work from Mitch Brown, Jarred Rivers and Matthew Sully kept the Collingwood
forwards under wraps, especially the threat of Quentin Lynch, who finished with just the one behind for the day.

This is the second notable shutdown role Brown has played on key forwards in recent weeks,
after keeping Port Melbourne's Dean Galea scoreless for the first time in round 11.

Browns defensive form hasn’t escaped the eye of Knights either.

“To beat lynch on the night was an excellent performance and adds to the weeks he has
had previous” he said.

Up forward Ryan Bathie equalled Jordan Schroders efforts, slamming four majors onto the
scoreboard for the evening, and engineering a couple more for his team mates.

Knights is impressed with Bathies work rate up forward.

“His contests are good, he is creative (at ground level) he is not just a marking player.

He farms it out to his smaller forwards and looks after them” he said.

The win came at an emotional time at the club, with the Casey Tutungi appeal set to donate
gate takings to the Casey Tutungi future fund.

“It has been a very humbling few weeks the way the club and the Geelong community have
gotten behind the support for Casey and his family” Knights said.

“For us to come out victorious on a night like this which has been dedicated to Casey
means a lot to the players”.

VFL Round 14 -
Geelong 17-15-(117) def. Collingwood 10-14-(74).
Best: Brown, Schroder, Corrigan, Horlin-Smith, West, Bathie, Barham
Goals: Bathie, Schroder 4, Herbison 2, Maas, Vardy,
West, Corrigan, Walker, Hollmer, Gibbs.
Injuries: Bews (ankle).
@Simonds Stadium