Bombers suffer huge blow, speedster leads Cats to victory
Essendon’s loss to Geelong in the AAMI Community Series has been soured by an injury to Jordan Ridley
A FAST-FINISHING Geelong has overcome both Essendon and its own inaccuracy, kicking five last-quarter goals to record a 12-point win in the AAMI Community Series.
Compounding Essendon’s late fadeout was a right quad injury to important playmaker Jordan Ridley, while Mason Redman sat out the last quarter as the Cats got on a roll.
Just days after signing a new contract, Ridley limped off during the third quarter and was visibly upset at the last change as he was consoled by teammates. It is a similar injury to the one he suffered last year.
“He’s got a tight quad. Obviously that’ll get scanned during the week and see how that goes,” Essendon assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa said.
“He’s an important player for us, so hopefully it isn’t too bad. I think he’s a little bit sore, so as I said, we’ll get it scanned and see how it goes.”
CATS v BOMBERS Full match coverage and stats
It looked as if the Bombers were going to make a statement with a strong pre-season win, but ran out of puff as the inaccurate Cats finally found the middle of the sticks to pull clear in the 11.17 (83) to 10.11 (71) result.
The Bombers moved the ball with pace on the ball in the first half, quickly swinging the footy from half-back to half-forward with low, flat kicks, and finding plenty of targets in attack.
Max Holmes (29 disposals) was outstanding for Geelong, whether charging up the wing, playing on the ball or even jumping the fence to track down a stray footy, while versatile veterans Mitch Duncan and Mark Blicavs also spent some time in the middle
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