SYDNEY has pulled off a dramatic three-point semi-final victory on the road, holding on for dear life as Geelong came charging at GMHBA Stadium and consigning the Cats to a straight sets exit. 

To say the 8.2 (50) to 7.5 (47) result was an eventful game is an understatement, with a serious head injury to Piper Dunlop holding play in the third term, and plenty of momentum swings throughout.

CATS v SWANS Full match coverage and stats

The McClelland Trophy is also likely to now end up in Sydney's hands, with the Swans needing Carlton to beat Hawthorn on Saturday night in order to immediately assure themselves of the $1 million prizemoney.

After kicking three goals in the first half, Chloe Molloy dragged herself on to the footy in the fourth term when the game was in the balance, and took a vital mark in defence with 80 seconds left on the clock, and it was Montana Ham who booted the ball clear in the final seconds as the Cats tried one last time.

Geelong was two down on the bench and made all the running in the last quarter, playing long and direct in an all-out attack that reflected the stakes. After trailing by 16 points when Cynthia Hamilton converted at the start of the fourth, the Cats cut the margin to three points eight minutes into the term.

The scores didn't change from that point on – and while it wasn't as jarring a miss from Chloe Scheer as last week, her poster technically was the last score of the game, meaning a goal could have been all the difference.

It was a particularly willing match, with both teams attacking the footy in a hell-for-leather fashion, and a number of questionable umpire decisions that resulted in flared tempers.

The game was marred by a distressing incident after a head clash between Geelong ruck Piper Dunlop and Sydney midfielder Tanya Kennedy in the third term, that saw the Cat drop to the turf sometime after the collision.

Play was held for nine minutes after Swan Lexi Hamilton had caught the falling Cat, guiding her to the ground and bellowing for help, and Dunlop was quickly stretchered from the field on the motorised cart.

At the end of play, it's understood Dunlop was awake, but Geelong has not yet provided any further update.

Early on, Sydney was able to turn Geelong's defence around relatively easily, finding plenty of space out the back of the contest into a vacant 50.

Geelong's sheer number of forward threats was meant to spread Sydney's band-aid defence even more thinly, but the Swans stood up incredibly well under the high ball, while the pressure coming from the midfield meant disposal was rarely clean coming into attack.

Sydney was particularly sharp by hand, getting itself out of trouble time and time again with triangle formations to clear traffic.

As Molloy kept converting from increasingly outrageous angles, Geelong was unravelling, Kate Kenny coughing up a 50m penalty for failing to hand the ball back correctly, which Cynthia Hamilton capitalised on with glee.

While the Cats dragged one back when Jackie Parry dragged forward a very healthy advantage call – Chloe Scheer wasn't going to miss one from inside the goal-square – their depth was about to be tested.

Amy McDonald (hamstring) was ruled out just before half-time with a hamstring injury, leading Kenny to play more minutes on the inside, while Rachel Kearns spent most of the second half on the bench with an unspecified injury.

Sydney also had a turn to get away with one, after Lulu Pullar appearing to jump and knock Chantel Emonson high, before kicking a goal, much to the howls from Geelong fans.

It was part of an increasingly escalating bash-and-crash attack on the ball from both sides, with the Dunlop incident providing somewhat of a circuit-breaker for heads to cool.

Kate Surman is likely to be under MRO scrutiny for a dumping tackle on Lara Hausegger in the third term.

Prespakis v Kennedy
It was the match-up most were anticipating, and Sydney coach Colin O'Riordan came to the party, sending the game's best tagger, Tanya Kennedy, straight to superstar Cat Georgie Prespakis. It was a fairly even contest for the first half, with Prespakis recording 12 disposals and four clearances, but she spent some time off the field undergoing a SCAT after a head knock. Kennedy may have had the better of the duel, just, with Prespakis finishing with 22 disposals, while the Swan had 17 and five clearances herself.

Quinn-tessential finals performance from young gun
First-year Sydney ruck Maddie Quinn played comfortably the best game of her short career, setting the tone with three contested marks in the first term alone. Rotating with Taylor Smith between ruck and resting forward, Quinn kicked a vitally important goal in the third term from a tight angle that took the Swans to an 11-point lead, from which they were never headed. She also had a game-high 18 hitouts to go with 22 disposals.

Up next
Sydney will face North Melbourne at Ikon Park, with a date and time yet to be confirmed (although Saturday is expected), while it's season over for Geelong.

GEELONG    1.0   3.2   5.4   7.5 (47)
SYDNEY      2.1   4.1   7.2   8.2 (50)

GOALS
Geelong: Scheer 3, Parry, Moloney, Mason, Bowen
Sydney: Molloy 3, C.Hamilton 2, Cooper, Pullar, Quinn

BEST
Geelong: Bowen, Prespakis, Morrison, Emonson, Webster, Parry 
Sydney: Molloy, Fish, Quinn, Kennedy, Ham, Gardiner

INJURIES
Geelong: McDonald (hamstring), Kearns (TBC), Dunlop (head)
Sydney: Nil

Crowd: TBC at GMHBA Stadium

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