1968 VFL Preliminary Final: Essendon v Geelong

This is the match report for the match played on 21 September 1968 between Essendon and Geelong in the preliminary final of the 1968 VFL season. Essendon hosted Geelong at MCG. Ken Fraser captained the hosts with Don McKenzie as vice-captain. Bill Goggin captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Jack Clarke and the visitors were coached by Peter Pianto.

Essendon
K. Fraser (capt.), D. McKenzie (vice-capt.), R. Blew, G. Brown, R. Close, B. Davis, J. Ellis, A. Epis, N. Evans, K. Fletcher, T. Fordham, D. Gerlach, G. Gosper, B. Lake, A. Noonan, C. Payne, G. Pryor, D. Shaw, P. Sproule, J. Williams

Geelong
B. Goggin (capt.), G. Ainsworth, G. Andrews, W. Closter, T. Farman, K. Gladman, R. Hosking, D. Marshall, C. Mitchell, K. Newland, S. Newman, T. Polinelli, G. Rosenow, B. Ryan, J. Scarlett, J. Sharrock, P. Stevens, H. Strahan, D. Wade, P. Walker

Essendon (11.25.91) defeated Geelong (9.13.67).

Goalkickers
Essendon: A. Noonan (3), T. Fordham (2), G. Gosper (2), R. Close, C. Payne, D. Shaw, P. Sproule
Geelong: J. Sharrock (3), D. Wade (3), W. Closter, B. Ryan, P. Stevens

As a result of this match, Essendon faced Carlton in the grand final and Geelong were eliminated (finishing 3rd overall).

Match Details

Season: 1968 VFL Season
Round: Preliminary Final
Teams: Essendon v Geelong
Date: Saturday 21 September 1968
Time: 2:30 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 103,649

Match Results

Outcome: Essendon def. Geelong
Score: 11.25.91 - 9.13.67

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Essendon 3 . 6 7 . 10 10 . 18 11 . 25 11 . 25 (91)
Geelong 5 . 3 8 . 6 8 . 10 9 . 13 9 . 13 (67)
Margin GEEL by 9 GEEL by 2 ESSE by 20 ESSE by 24 ESSE by 24
Duration

Honour Roll

Coaches: Jack Clarke (Essendon), Peter Pianto (Geelong)
Captains: Ken Fraser (Essendon), Bill Goggin (Geelong)
Vice-Captains: Don McKenzie (Essendon), unknown (Geelong)

Match Umpires

Field Umpire: J. Crouch

Player Statistics

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO FF FA
14 Blew, Russell ? ? 0 0 24 22 2 8 0 2 1
18 Brown, Greg ? ? 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
19 Close, Robin ? ? 1 3 14 13 1 4 0 3 2
32 Davis, Barry ? ? 0 0 19 17 2 7 0 2 0
30 Ellis, John ? ? 0 2 22 16 6 4 0 2 0
28 Epis, Alec ? ? 0 0 22 18 4 5 0 0 0
36 Evans, Neil ? ? 0 0 3 2 1 0 4 1 0
21 Fletcher, Ken ? ? 0 0 21 19 2 7 0 0 0
20 Fordham, Ted ? ? 2 1 17 16 1 10 0 0 2
23 Fraser, Ken (c) ? ? 0 1 11 7 4 1 2 2 0
17 Gerlach, Darryl ? ? 0 0 9 9 0 3 0 1 1
6 Gosper, Geoff ? ? 2 1 17 14 3 2 0 3 1
16 Lake, Bruce ? ? 0 2 4 2 2 2 0 0 1
24 McKenzie, Don (vc) ? ? 0 1 8 5 3 0 21 1 6
10 Noonan, Alan ? ? 3 3 19 14 5 8 0 0 1
7 Payne, Charlie ? ? 1 3 16 14 2 7 2 0 1
35 Pryor, Geoff ? ? 0 0 17 16 1 6 5 4 0
5 Shaw, David ? ? 1 3 14 14 0 4 0 2 0
26 Sproule, Paul ? ? 1 4 16 15 1 3 0 1 1
22 Williams, John ? ? 0 0 13 13 0 5 0 0 2
Rushed 1
Total (20 players) 11 25 289 249 40 86 34 24 19

Geelong

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO FF FA
25 Ainsworth, Geoff ? ? 0 0 15 13 2 3 0 1 0
6 Andrews, Gareth ? ? 0 0 11 8 3 0 0 1 0
1 Closter, Wayne ? ? 1 1 26 25 1 5 0 3 2
15 Farman, Terry ? ? 0 0 12 10 2 4 0 0 0
18 Gladman, Ken ? ? 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 1 0
35 Goggin, Bill (c) ? ? 0 1 33 26 7 2 0 0 1
11 Hosking, Ron ? ? 0 0 19 18 1 2 0 0 1
2 Marshall, Denis ? ? 0 1 24 24 0 7 0 1 1
8 Mitchell, Chris ? ? 0 1 19 12 7 9 21 1 1
3 Newland, Ken ? ? 0 1 18 10 8 3 0 1 2
17 Newman, Sam ? ? 0 0 14 12 2 5 13 3 1
36 Polinelli, Tony ? ? 0 1 17 17 0 6 0 0 1
27 Rosenow, Geoff ? ? 0 0 18 16 2 10 0 1 2
26 Ryan, Bill ? ? 1 0 13 8 5 6 1 1 2
30 Scarlett, John ? ? 0 0 5 3 2 1 0 2 0
10 Sharrock, John ? ? 3 6 15 13 2 5 0 0 1
4 Stevens, Phil ? ? 1 0 11 11 0 4 0 2 0
28 Strahan, Hugh ? ? 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
23 Wade, Doug ? ? 3 1 9 7 2 7 0 0 4
34 Walker, Peter ? ? 0 0 19 10 9 0 0 1 5
Rushed 0
Total (20 players) 9 13 302 246 56 79 35 19 24

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s