Adelaide Crows forward Lewis Johnston faces a nervous wait after being placed on report for rough conduct following a challenge on Geelong's Steve Johnson.
ADELAIDE'S season of redemption hit an early roadblock at Simonds Stadium on Thursday night.
After having Geelong on the ropes, the Crows collapsed in the final 15 minutes, losing a last-quarter lead to crash to a 38-point defeat in their premiership season opener.
Missing eight-first choice players because of injuries or interrupted pre-seasons, Adelaide was on the verge of a shock upset but couldn't deliver the knockout punch.
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When the game was on the line it was Geelong's stars who stood tall, with 250-gamer Jimmy Bartel, captain Joel Selwood and the brilliant Steve Johnson all instrumental in the win.
Leading by one point early in the final term after fighting back from an early four-goal deficit, the Crows could not stay with the Cats when they put their foot on the throttle.
A cracking performance from milestone man Jimmy Bartel inspired Geelong to an opening round win over Adelaide on Thursday night.
Geelong kicked the final six goals of the match to continue their remarkable home record.
The win was the Cats 44th in their past 45 minor round matches at Simonds Stadium.
They have lost just once there since the start of the 2008 season - against Sydney in round 23, 2011.
But Adelaide gave it a mighty scare.
And while it will be disappointed with its final quarter fadeout it will take some positives from the loss.
Jimmy Bartel, left, celebrating his 250th match, and skipper Joel Selwood inspired the Cats to a 38-point victory over the Crows at Simonds Stadium. Picture: Michael Dodge.
With its best players having little influence on the match, Matthew Wright (31 disposals), Sam Kerridge, Lewis Johnston (three goals), Mitch Grigg, Matthew Jaensch and Brodie Smith played well, highlighting the club's improved depth.
But while they worked hard to complement some tough work from stand-in captain Patrrick Dangerfield, it wasn't a happy homecoming for Crows key forward recruit James Podsiadly, who struggled against his former club, going goalless.
Adelaide's other ace forward recruit Eddie Betts was more effective, kicking 2.1 from 16 disposals.
The Crows wore black arm bands in honour of former assistant coach Dean Bailey, who died of cancer 10 days ago, and were playing catch-up football from the start.
They were three goals down in the blink of an eye, with Mitch Brown, Mitch Duncan and Tom Hawkins goaling in the opening five minutes.
Former Cat James Podsiadly put under pressure by Geelong defenders Andrew Mackie and Tom Lonergan. Picture: Michael Dodge.
Mitch Grigg put Adelaide on the scoreboard in the eighth minute after goaling from a mark but the visitors continued to leak goals. With ruckmen Hamish McIntosh and Dawson Simpson getting in on the act, the Cats had six goals on the board in the opening 20 minutes to break to a 22-point lead.
The game was quickly getting away from the Crows before Betts kicked his first major for his new club and Dangerfield followed with a sensational goal from deep in the forward pocket to close the gap.
The first term was a goalfest with 11 kicked between the two sides. And the run of goals didn't end there.
After Sam Jacobs gave Adelaide its first lead at the start of the second term, Bartel appeared to blow the game wide open.
He kicked three goals in a brilliant blitz, including a superb bouncing left-foot snap, which again pushed Geelong clear.
Crows midfielder Patrick Dangerfield breaks free of an attempted tackle from Geelong's Cameron Guthrie. Picture: Michael Dodge.
But Brenton Sanderson's side refused to surrender.
With Johnston starting to have an impact and Betts continuing to cause the Cats defenders problems, the visitors hit back hard to close the gap to 10 points at the long break.
Of concern to Adelaide was that of Geelong's 11 goals, eight had been kicked from turnovers.
GEELONG 6.0 11.3 12.7 18.11 (119)
ADELAIDE 5.3 9.5 11.8 12.9 (81)
BEST - Geelong: Selwood, Bartel, Johnson, Stokes, Kelly, Caddy, Enright. Adelaide: Wright, Kerridge, Jacobs, Jaensch, Dangerfield, Grigg.
GOALS - Geelong: Bartel 4, Brown 3, Selwood 2, Simpson, McIntosh, Johnson, Murdoch, Duncan, Caddy, Hawkins, Stokes, Enright. Adelaide: Johnston 3, Betts, Dangerfield 2, Jaensch, Jacobs, Smith, McKernan, Grigg.
INJURIES - Geelong: Caddy (cut head).
REPORT- Adelaide: Johnston for rough conduct on Johnson in second term.
UMPIRES - M. Stevic, S. Stewart, M. Leppard.
CROWD - 23,622 at Simonds Stadium.
Crows get off to a shaky start
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Crows get off to a shaky start
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Crows get off to a shaky start
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