The Cats won, 18.14 (122) to 13.17 (95), thanks to a devastating burst in the second quarter led by midfield guns Jimmy Bartel and Paul Chapman, and veteran defender Matthew Scarlett. Steve Johnson was a menacing forward all night.
Collingwood youngster Dayne Beams (21 touches and a goal) produced a strong game in his second senior outing and Dane Swan (30 touches) was his usual industrious self. Paul Medhurst was the Magpies’ only multiple goalscorer with three majors.
The Cats looked lacklustre early, but they snapped into action in the second term.
The Magpies didn’t help their cause by abysmal kicking for goal from set shots.
Collingwood jumped out of the blocks and looked intent on making sure they didn’t repeat the poor starts if the previous two weeks and went straight into attack where Alan Didak accepted a handpass out of the back of the pack and goaled.
The Magpies had clearly done their homework on Geelong and tried to drag the Cats defenders up the ground and out of their comfort zone. Leigh Brown, in the forward pocket, was paying special attention to Matthew Scarlett and trying to distract him from his job on full-forward John Anthony.
Geelong lacked penetration in attack and the only forward who posed any menace in the first half hour was Gary Ablett.
But Collingwood moved the ball sharply and quickly and dictated terms in the first quarter as Geelong looked flat and listless.
Trailing by 20 points at quarter time, Geelong staged a remarkable transformation with Chapman, Bartel and Scarlett standing up and setting the tone. Suddenly it was Collingwood which was on the back foot and making errors.
The most glaring of those was perpetrated by Heath Shaw who conceded a free then was given a 50 metre penalty for lightly touching umpire Michael Vozzo’s arm while protesting.
He had his number taken for interfering with the umpire. Paul Chapman calmly accepted the goal and it triggered a burst of five in a row that left the Magpies looking seriously dishevelled by half time.
Geelong had played on at every opportunity and constantly left Collingwood in its wake. For Heath Shaw, a miserable half hour ended when he slewed a kick out of bounds on the full and enabled Geelong to set up a goal to Tom Hawkins.
Geelong took the foot off the accelerator in the third quarter and Collingwood chewed into the deficit by dint of hard running and the ability to quieten the Cats’ dangerous midfielders.
The Magpies had nine scoring shots in the third term and could only find the target three times. Josh Fraser missed with a long shot on the three-quarter time siren; had he kicked truly, the difference would have been nine points.
Geelong needed to re-start and the opportunist Johnson soccered a goal from the square when he read the ball off the pack and then he was involved in another goal moments later when Shannon Byrnes snapped truly.
The gap had blown out to 26 points and when Cam Mooney chipped in for another, it sealed the result just six minutes into the final term.
To its credit, Collingwood fought the game out to the end, but Geelong’s class with foot and hand, and its depth in midfield had been the difference between the sides.
Lesser lights such as Travis Varcoe and Matthew Stokes also made significant contributions.
For the Magpies, the loss of Ben Johnson (ankle) and Heath Shaw (cramp) was an added downside.
Geelong 2.3 10.6 11.11 18.14 (122)
Collingwood 5.5 5.9 8.15 13.17 (95)
GOALS
Geelong: Chapman 4, Johnson 3, Hawkins 2, Stokes 2, Varcoe 2, Ablett, Byrnes, Mooney, Rooke, Wojcinski
Collingwood: Medhurst 3, Anthony, Beams, Brown, Cox, Davis, Dick, Didak, Fraser, Lockyer, Thomas
BEST
Geelong: Chapman, Johnson, Enright, Bartel, Ablett, Selwood
Collingwood: Swan, Fraser, Pendlebury, Beams, Medhurst, Cox
INJURIES
Geelong: Ling (ankle)
Collingwood: Johnson (broken leg), Shaw (cramp)
Reports:
Shaw (Coll) for making contact with umpire Vozzo in the second quarter.
Umpires: Vozzo, McBurney, Stevic.
Official crowd: 58,527 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.
