Geelong sharpshooter Paul Chapman couldn't have chosen a better time to shake-off the yips.

His return of 6.0, a best-on-ground performance as Geelong scraped past Adelaide at Skilled Stadium on Saturday, broke a recent trend of so-so goal kicking that stretched as far back as round 12.

In a game decided by two points - the Crows shaded total scoring shots 26-23 and dominated several stretches of the afternoon - Chapman's accuracy was pivotal, no more so than when he threaded through the final two goals of the game to turn a nine-point deficit into the Cats' second narrow win in as many weeks.

Chapman quipped he may have caught his "yips" from the famously wayward boot of Cats key forward Cameron Mooney.

"It was nice to get the ball out there and swing it onto the right (for his last goal), I thought 'I'm half a chance here' and hit it sweetly and it went through," Chapman said.

"I've had a bit of the yips the last three or four weeks ... maybe I have got it off Moons, but it's good to be back and to kick 6.0 is great and hopefully that turns the tables for me and I kick more than not from now on.

"You try to kick them any time but the fact we were down and they wen through probably means a bit more.

"It was a little disappointing our third quarter to let them back in the game the way we did, but to the boys' credit we bounced back and fought the game out."

Geelong were not at their best for much of the contest, stifled effectively by Adelaide's demanding tactical questions and also lapsing into more frequent skill errors than usual.

But the belief fostered by a formidable record everywhere - especially at Skilled where they have not lost in 15 matches since round 21, 2007 - spurred the Cats to the win.

"I think it's maturity, we've got a lot of experienced players and they can read a game and there's a lot of trust in one another as well," Chapman said.

"In times like today we thought, whilst we weren't playing our best footy, we weren't playing our worst either, we thought 'we've done this before, we can do it again' and we did it again."

Though happy in victory, Chapman spared a thought for the vanquished Crows, suggesting they would fight deep into September this season.

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