Australian Football

Match Report

The annual ANZAC Day match between Collingwood and Essendon  was a big fizzer, with the Magpies thrashing the Bombers to the tune of 69 points in front of 85,082 fans at the MCG on Monday. The term 'ANZAC spirit' is often invoked for football matches on this day but there was little spirit of any description shown by the Dons in the first half if this match and, by the long break, Collingwood held a commanding 76-point lead. 

To their credit, the Bombers made a fist of things in the second half, matching the Magpies' score in the third quarter and actually outscoring them in the last, but the damage and long been done by then and there was little, if any, sting left in the match throughout the second half. 

The match got off to somewhat of a sensational start, with Magpie recruit Mason Cox marking and goaling with his first kick in AFL football. Cox hails from the US, where he studied engineering and played basketball at Oklahoma State University before being invited to participate in the 2014 US International Combine. His display there was enough to earn him the 211-centimetre giant a contract which culminated in his debut on Monday.

Cox's goal set the scene for a Collingwood blitz and Steele Sidebottom, Adam Oxley and Darcy Moore added majors before the Dons even hit the scoreboard. That score was a goal to Kyle Langford but it was followed by four more goals to the Pies - two more to Sidebottom and by quarter time Collingwood led 8.4 to 1.1 and the match was virtually as good as over. It didn't get much better for the Dons in the second term, the Magpies adding another six goals to one to lead by more than 12 goals at half time. 

On the back of an outstanding first-half effort, Sidebottom was awarded the ANZAC Day Medal. He finished with 33 possessions and four goals. Skipper Scott Pendlebury (35 touches and five tackles) also had a fine match, while James Kelly (29 possessions, seven marks) was excellent for the Bombers.

The Magpies second win of the year takes them up to 11th on the ladder but they can expect a much tougher match at Subiaco next Sunday when they take on the Eagles. The Bombers will look for a better performance and possibly a second win of the season against Carlton on the same day at the MCG.

GOALS
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Fasolo 4; Blair 3; Howe, Moore, Greenwood 2; Cox, Oxley, Smith, De Goey, Adams
Essendon: Grimley 2; Fantasia 2; Langford, Brown, Daniher, Stokes, Kelly, Cooney, Merrett

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Treloar, Fasolo, Reid, Adams
Essendon: Kelly, Fantasia, Hartley, Zaharakis, Goddard

BEST - THEAGE.COM.AU
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Fasolo, de Goey, Adams, Treloar
Essendon: Hartley, Kelly, Fantasia, Zaharakis, Goddard

INJURIES
Collingwood: Varcoe (hamstring)
Essendon: Nil

UMPIRES: O'Gorman, Schmitt, Jeffery

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti, Leigh Matthews, Cameron Ling, Andrew Welsh

ANZAC MEDAL: Steele Sidebottom