Ten lead changes, a Jesse Hogan masterclass, and a matchwinner from Jake Riccardi.
Geelong taking on the GIANTS at GMHBA Stadium was always going to be heart in mouth stuff.
Ultimately, it was the GIANTS who won 16.9 (105) to 14.17 (101) as the sun set on a Mother's Day Sunday, keeping the visitors' remarkable winning streak at the venue alive.
The GIANTS have now won their past five games at GMHBA Stadium by an average of less than eight points, and are undefeated in Geelong since round seven, 2018.
The Cats couldn't make the most of their opportunities to snatch victory late in the game, as three wayward shots on goal in the dying minutes broke the hearts of the crowd.
The GIANTS got a fast start, kicking five of the first six goals of the game and slicing through the Cats, but it is Geelong who is the final quarter specialist in 2025.
Taking a seven-point lead into the final break, the GIANTS started the fourth quarter a millimetre off, dropping marks they had been taking all night, and allowing the Cats to come in and attack off turnover.
But Hogan calmed the troops, with his sixth goal of the evening settling things down and returning the game to its tense mode of the previous three quarters. The 2024 Coleman medallist kicked seven for the match, just shy of his season-high of nine in round four.
Midfield control was the barometer for both teams. Early on, it was the GIANTS dominating clearance, spitting forward out of the contest, and taking advantage of a Geelong defence without Tom Stewart and Lawson Humphries.
It was Patrick Dangerfield who slung momentum back in the Cats' favour. It took 21 minutes for the home captain to touch the footy, but it was followed by a goal, and then a sense of strength around the ball as he injected himself into the contest.
Geelong was slow to establish its ability to defend the corridor, an avenue the visitors worked to exploit at every possible opportunity.
Finn Callaghan (29 disposals, 555 metres gained) was the architect of the GIANTS' devastating end-to-end transition, which repeatedly sliced through Geelong's defensive walls. Callaghan's penetrating kick was efficient in gaining dangerous territory, and capitalised on his side's desire to lengthen the ground and own space goal-side of the Cats.
The GIANTS were forced to live in their back half for much of the third term, unable to execute the damaging defensive transition that was so effective in the first half. What Geelong struggled to do, however, was convert that time in attack into real dominance on the scoreboard.
It kept the door open for the moment the GIANTS rediscovered their running, attacking game, with Hogan the beneficiary inside 50.
The ruck battle between Mark Blicavs (20 disposals, nine clearances, five marks) and Kieren Briggs (34 hitouts, 10 disposals) was a fascinating subplot to the match, with Blicavs' athleticism to support in defence important, but Briggs' pure strength at the contest equally impactful.
On the bell of three-quarter time, GIANTS captain Toby Greene went down with a right ankle concern, but managed to play out the game, while forward Jake Stringer landed two early goals before being subbed out with a right hamstring concern.
Green Shoots Up In Game No.100
A rare infringement from Geelong forward-ruck Shannon Neale opened the door for milestone GIANT Tom Green to kick an important goal. At a boundary throw in 40m from the visitors' goal line, Neale got too much of the footy when leaping in the ruck, and knocked it out on the full. Enter Green. From the toughest of angles, and at a challenging distance, Green brushed it off and coolly went back to slot the goal for the eighth lead change of the match.
GIANTS Veteran Turns Back The Clock
In game No.324, Callan Ward gave GIANTS fans something special. In the second quarter out of a stoppage deep in the visitors' attacking line, the veteran calmly stepped back from the scramble, side-stepped a Jhye Clark attempt to smother, and slotted the major around his body. Those watching from home would have been forgiven for thinking it hadn't gone through given the deafening silence from the Geelong home crowd, but Ward celebrated enthusiastically, nonetheless.
GEELONG 3.4 9.8 11.12 14.17 (101)
GIANTS 5.2 9.7 13.7 16.9 (105)
GOALS
Geelong: Cameron 2, Mannagh 2, Dempsey 2, Stengle 2, Close, Dangerfield, Duncan, Neale, O.Henry, Miers
GIANTS: Hogan 7, Stringer 2, O'Halloran, Greene, Cadman, Ward, Green, Thomas, Riccardi
BEST
Geelong: Cameron, Holmes, Smith, Dangerfield, Blicavs, Dempsey
GIANTS: Callaghan, Briggs, Hogan, Taylor, Green, Whitfield
INJURIES
Geelong: Nil
GIANTS: Stringer (right hamstring)
SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Ted Clohesy (replaced Jhye Clark at three-quarter time)
GIANTS: Josaia Delana (replaced Jake Stringer in the second quarter)
Crowd: 28,407 at GMHBA Stadium
