Geelong run rages as pressure mounts on Port Adelaide with AFL finals thrashing | AFL

Geelong’s attacking guns Jeremy Cameron and Tyson Stengle led the Cats to a blistering 84-point victory over Port Adelaide in the first AFL qualifying final. The Cats will host a preliminary final at the MCG in two weeks’ time after thrashing the Power 20.18 (138) to 7.12 (54) at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

Port will face the winner of the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn elimination final in a home knockout semi-final on Friday night. The Power face the prospect of a straight-sets exit from the final for the second year in a row and have concerns about midfielder Zak Butters, who has been substituted due to a rib injury.

The Cats, with Cameron and Stengle each scoring four goals, handed Port the second-biggest finals defeat, behind only the club’s 119-point finals defeat to Geelong in 2007. But the Power will undoubtedly be more concerned about their four straight finals defeats by an average of 57 points, as the pressure on their performances mounts as the stakes rise.

“Obviously, there’s not a lot of positive that would come out of that,” Port coach Ken Hinkley said. “How do we deal with this and move forward quickly? Because we have to.

“We need to move the group forward very quickly. We need to acknowledge what happened, but we also need to move forward quickly.”

The Cats triumphed despite the late withdrawal of five-time All Australian Tom Stewart. The star defender, who suffered a hamstring injury, was replaced by his team in the round 24 thrashing of West Coast, although the Cats say he was pulled from the finals due to illness.

Forwards Cameron and Stengle teamed up with Shaun Mannagh (three), Gryan Miers (three), Shannon Neale (two) and Jack Bowes (two) to overpower a dull Port.

“To play the way we did … is something we have to be proud of,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said. “But I’ve been in the game long enough to know that if you get ahead of yourself because you have one good night, that will come back to bite you pretty quickly.”

Cameron’s first two goals defied football logic. Five minutes into the game, the striker collected a handball that ran and curled toward a boundary line, a step into the paint, a remarkable 30-yard snap-through. In the second period, the four-time All-Australian pulled off another stunner, dribbling with the outside of his left boot from near the boundary line.

Cameron’s team-mate Max Holmes was superb – his 28 disposals included five inside-50s and also seven rebound-50s – while captain Patrick Dangerfield (24 touches), Zach Guthrie (27), Miers (21) and Mannagh (23) were other standouts.

Port briefly took the lead in the second half, but then conceded 10 of the next 11 goals, and were locked at 0-0 in the third quarter.

Midfielder Ollie Wines (23 possessions), Ryan Burton (21) and Willem Drew (21) were the home side’s main ball-winners. The star trio of Butters, who had just eight possessions before being substituted, captain Connor Rozee (16 possessions, one goal) and Jason Horne-Francis (18, one goal) were all in control.

Geelong set the tone with a dominant first 20 minutes, but two late goals from Port reduced the visitors’ lead to three points in the quarter-final, 3.7 to 3.4. Port took the lead nine minutes into the second period, but held on to it for just over a minute as the Cats began their scoring run.

Geelong fired in the next five goals to open a 20-point lead at halftime, 9.9 to 6.7, and then punished Port 5.7 to 0.2 in the third period. The Cats led 100 to 45 at three-quarter time before cruising to victory.