Geelong coach responds after Patrick Dangerfield blunder almost costs Cats victory over Freo

Geelong coach Chris Scott says Patrick Dangerfield has earned an error or two over the years after the Cats star produced arguably the biggest blunder of his AFL career on Saturday. In what was an otherwise strong performance in Geelong's 11-point victory over Fremantle, Dangerfield led from the front with 20 disposals, 11 clearances and a goal.

Geelong came home strong kicking three goals to one in the final term to secure the 10.13 (73) to 9.8 (62) win. The result lifted the Cats (14-7) above Brisbane on the ladder, leaving them on the cusp of second spot.

However, the result nearly slipped through their fingers after Dangerfield made potentially the biggest error of his incredible 333-game career with the game on the line. With Geelong up by just three points in the closing minutes, Dangerfield broke away from his man at the top of the goalsquare.

Jeremy Cameron delivered the ball into open space in front of Dangerfield, who sprinted onto the bouncing ball just metres from goal. With no Fremantle player in sight, the Cats star inexplicably opted against gathering the loose ball to run in and score an easy goal, instead unleashing a ferocious volley on the bouncing ball that badly missed.

The error didn't prove costly in the end as Shaun Mannagh kicked the winning goal a short time later to seal a crucial victory. After the game, Scott said it was an error he can forgive his midfielder for due to his otherwise flawless final quarter.

"Yeah if he grabbed it and kicked it, it would have helped," Scott said. "But he's got a fair few credits in the bank."

In the fourth quarter alone, Dangerfield tallied seven possessions, three clearances, two contested marks and a goal in a match-winning display. "The game was red hot at the start of the last quarter, and as much as anyone, we thought he was the one that took the game away from them," Scott said.

"In the last quarter, those big contested marks ... for a guy with that sort of speed and for such a renowned ground-level player, his ability to go forward and trouble the opposition is a strength that's nice for us to have."

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Justin Longmuir fumes as Dockers blow another final-quarter lead

The Dockers (12-8-1) could finish the round as low as eighth after blowing yet another three-quarter time lead. And Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir admitted his team needs to "be better than that" if they are to make a run into the AFL finals.

"Clearly it's disappointing. We didn't finish off the game the way we wanted to finish, but the start comes back to bite you," Longmuir said. "You give a team in this sort of game a four-goal head start and you're on the back foot from the very start. So we need to be better than that."

with AAP