Australian Football

Match Report

Collingwood withstood an early onslaught from the West Coast Eagles to record a gutsy 13-point win at the MCG on Saturday night. The match was an emotional one in particular for Collingwood players after the tragic death of their former teammate John McCarthy in Las Vegas earlier in the week. Both teams wore black armbands as a mark of respect and a minute's silence in honour of McCarthy was observed prior to the match.

When play got underway, the intensity was fierce. It was the Eagles who settled first, with a mark and goal to Jack Darling at the 7-minute mark. Patrick McGinnity followed up with a goal on the run and the Eagles took an early 11-point lead. The Magpies went forward several times in the ensuing eight minutes but West Coast's defence, led by skipper Darren Glass proved to be rock-solid and Collingwood's entire reward in that period was a controversial rushed behind, in which it appeared that Andrew Krakouer had broken the drought for the Magpies with a goal snapped over his shoulder. But just as the ball was about to be bounced to restart play, the central umpires were informed that the video umpire had requested to review the footage of the goal. The goal was subsequently overturned when it was ruled that the ball had crossed the goal-line for a point moments prior to Krakouer's kick. The video footage appeared to be inconclusive to many observers, and there was uproar when the goal was rescinded.

Minutes later, goals to Josh Hill and veteran Daniel Kerr gave the Eagles a 23-point lead and things were looking grim for the rattled Magpies. But time-on saw Collingwood work themselves into the match. Goals to O'Brien and Pendlebury saw the margin reduced to a manageable nine points. A late quarter goal to Dean Cox was answered by his opposite number in Darren Jolly at the the stroke of quarter-time and the first break saw West Coast with 31-22 advantage.

An early second-term goal from Dane Swan saw the margin reduced to just three points at the three minute mark. The rest of the first half was a classic, high-intensity finals "slog". The only goal registered for the remainder of that term went to the Eagles' Hill after a mark in the goal square.

The half-time margin was 11 points the Eagles' way but the match was very much in the balance when the siren was sounded to commence the third term. The stage was set for a player from either side to take the match by the scruff of the neck. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the man to do that was Collingwood's Daisy Thomas. Thomas had come under scrutiny in recent weeks, with his output in that period, in terms of goals and possessions, being well below his lofty standards. But he put all that behind him in a superlative four-minute burst in which he kicked three goals. The third of those goals gave the Magpies an eight-point buffer and they were rarely headed again in the match.

Over the next 17 minutes, further "trench warfare" ensued, with neither side managing to find the main target. A magnificent long goal from the boundary by Jarryd Blair finally broke the deadlock, giving the Magpies a 17-point lead. But a Darling mark and goal just prior to the three-quarter time siren saw that gap cut back to 11 points.

When the final quarter got underway, West Coast, just as Fremantle had against Adelaide at Football Park 24 hours earlier, kicked two quick goals through Nic Naitanui and Josh Kennedy to regain the lead. But it proved to be the Eagles' last hurrah, just as the Dockers' early goals in Adelaide had been. A mark and goal to Goldsack returned Collingwood to the lead before a snap from Swan gave the Pies a 10-point margin and some breathing space. As had happened in the previous two quarters, the game then tightened up and Swan's goal proved to be the last of the match, with Magpies 13 points to the good when the final siren sounded.

Many of the Collingwood players were openly emotional as they left the field, and it was clear that the tragic events of the week had taken their toll. The Eagles were valiant, but the Magpies once again showed how valuable the "double-chance" is. Reid, Jolly and Thomas were excellent players for Collingwood, while Gaff and Kerr were magnificent for the Eagles.

Collingwood will now face Sydney at ANZ Stadium next Friday night, a venue which should hold no fear for Nathan Buckley's men, who have won their past seven encounters there. The Magpies may have some injury concerns however, with Chris Dawes struggling with a medial ligament injury, and Didak suffering a calf-strain.

GOALS
Collingwood: Thomas 3; Swan 2; O'Brien, Pendlebury, Jolly, Blair, Goldsack
West Coast: Hill, Darling 2; Kennedy, McGinnity, Kerr, Cox, Naitanui

BEST - WATODAY.COM.AU
Collingwood: Thomas, Reid, Jolly, Goldsack, Beams, Pendlebury
West Coast: Gaff, Kerr, MacKenzie, Glass, Shuey, Hill

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Collingwood: Reid, Jolly, Pendlebury, Thomas, Swan, Johnson, Toovey
West Coast: Gaff, Kerr, Cox, Glass, Mackenzie, Priddis

COACHES' COMMENTS
Nathan Buckley (Coll): I thought it was a fantastic performance. The players stuck to the task and were able to withstand the onslaught early. [They] ground out a pretty impressive win. We've been building to this sort of performance [but] we still feel there's some upside in us. It was important for us to recognise the contribution of JMac [former player John McCarthy, who died suddenly during the week] but the main thing we did [during the week] was support each of our players and staff. [The players] were able to find reasons that it was important for them to perform and to give everything, and they did.

John Worsfold (WC): Disappointed. It was a pretty good game of footy, I thought [but there can only be] one winner. There's a fine. There were a couple of things that went their way, not our way. The message to the players was improve, get better. We've got to get to the top four. It was a good start by us but then the game tightened up. A lot of improvement came this year: Naitanui, Darling, Gaff, Sheppard, Masten, Shuey, McGinnity. McKenzie and Schofield improved this year but we've still got to get better again, and there is no doubt more [potential] improvement in the group.

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Stevic, Schmitt