Australian Football

Match Report

Port Adelaide's fairytale season will continue for at least one more week after the Power withstood several Magpie challenges to upset Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night. The Power had finished two games behind Collingwood and were given little chance of defeating a team that many believed could go deep into September but Port made the early running and led at every change before eventually running out the victors by 24 points.

The first few minutes saw Collingwood go forward several times but the Magpies could only convert these attacks into two behinds. Port then had better luck when it was their turn to foray forward and goals to Justin Westhoff annd Jay Schulz saw the Power lead 2.2 to 0.2. The remainder of the term was somewhat of an arm-wrestle and Magpie Dane Swan registered the only other goal. At the first break it was the Power who lead by an even goal.

The play opened up to a certain extent in the second quarter, with the Power outscoring Collingwood four goals to three, including a "double-goal" where a free kick was awarded to Angus Monfries immediately following a Travis Boak goal after Magpie Heath Shaw needlessly grabbed Monfries by the throat and threw him to the turf.

With Port leading by two goals, the feeling was that Collingwood would make a charge and take the game by the scruff of the neck in the third term and the first 10 minutes of the quarter certainly supported that theory, with consecutive goals to Lachlan Keefe, Swan and Swan again giving the Magpies a seven-point lead. But Port tightened the match up after that and to a certain extent dominated the remainder of the quarter, kicking 2.3 without Collingwood scoring again to leave the Power eight points ahead at the final change.

Collingwood again opened the final term strongly and when Dayne Beams and Travis Cloke both goaled within the first six minutes to put the Magpies five points ahead, it appeared once again that the Magpies would prevail. But again Port steeled itself and attacked relentlessly. They kicked three behinds to reduce the margin to just two before Magpie Steele Sidebottom also squandered a chance after a mark.

Finally, after 10 minutes without a goal, the Power reclaimed the lead when skipper Travis Boak slipped out the back of a pack to grab the ball and slot a goal. At that stage there were still 14 minutes left in the match but Collingwood would not reclaim the lead. Indeed, the Magpies failed to score again as Oliver Wines, Chad Wingard and Jay Schulz kicked the last three goals of the match to give the Power a stirring win.

Tom Logan (24 possessions) and veteran Kane Cornes (28 disposals) played fine games for the Power and Chad Wingard's 19 disposals and three goals were pivotal. For the Magpies, Swan (three goals and 22 touches), Dayne Beams (29 disposals and a goal) and Steele Sidebottom (29 possessions) were all significant contributors.

Port will now play a Semi Final match against Geelong at the MCG, with the winner of that match facing Hawthorn in a Preliminary Final. The Power will be hoping for a much better result than when these two sides last met at the MCG, the 2007 Grand Final which the Cats won by a record 119 points.

After the Magpies' shock exit, Collingwood coach signalled a change in culture and personnel for the Club and he was almost immediately true to his word, with Alan Didak, Andrew Krakouer and Darren Jolly all being delisted on the Tuesday after the game.

GOALS
Collingwood: Swan 3; Cloke 2; Keeffe, Macaffer, Williams, Beams
Port Adelaide: Wingard, Schulz 3; Boak, Wines 2; Westhoff, Monfries

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
Collingwood: Swan, Sidebottom, Beams, Williams
Port Adelaide: Wingard, Cornes, Logan, Schulz, Wines, Cassisi

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Collingwood: Swan, Beams, Macaffer, Sidebottom
Port Adelaide: Logan, Ebert, Cornes, Jonas, Lobbe, Carlile

INJURIES
Collingwood: Lynch (ankle) replaced in selected side by Elliott
Port Adelaide: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Alan Didak replaced Jamie Elliott in the third quarter
Port Adelaide: Aaron Young replaced Sam Colquhoun in the third quarter

UMPIRES: Donlon, Dalgleish, Jeffery

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Ling