Geelong held Port Melbourne goalless in the final term on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to get the points on a windy afternoon at Deakin University.
The Cats were 17 points down at the final change but the siren sounded with Port Melbourne seven points up when it mattered most.
It took until the second quarter for Poppy Schaap to kick the first goal for the Cats, but Port Melbourne stood their ground kicking the next three goals to take a lead into half time.
The final half was a close battle between both teams. Liv Cicolini kicked another goal and Charlotte Simpson followed swiftly before the final siren sounded before the Cats could finish the job.
Geelong Cats VFLW senior coach, Elise Coventry said it was the tight contest she was expecting between the two sides.
“Two strong sides in the competition going head-to-head, so we prepared for pressure and tried and put some pressure on Port Melbourne,” she said.
“It was quite the tussle, but we waited for the last quarter to play with some urgency and desire to win the game which was too late for us today.”
Coventry felt that there were a number of standout players such as Abby Favell who had 31 disposals and four marks, as well as citing tackling machine Analea McKee and Charlotte Simpson.
“Abby spent some time in the middle and in the forward line but was able to get some good control of the footy,” she said.
“Analea McKee was brilliant playing forward but predominantly ruck and challenged forward. She was just such a strong player in the air and on the ground and she provided us with a lot of spark.
“Simmo (Charlotte Simpson) was brilliant in the middle just forcing her way out of stoppages to get us forward.
Looking forward to next week, Coventry hopes the Cats took some lessons out of the narrow loss.
“As a group we’re trying to come in with the mindset to start games well and with urgency to put scores on the board early, but it hasn’t been something we’ve been able to do consistently so to do that from the first quarter would be our aim going forward,” she said.
In round 11, the Cats return to Deakin University to face the Casey Demons on Saturday. First bounce is at 12pm.