COLLINGWOOD has rebounded from a tumultuous week, surviving a spirited second half from St Kilda to win by 14 points at the MCG on Saturday night.
The result has kept the Magpies' finals hopes well alive and, with some irony, they leapfrogged the Saints to take sixth place on the ladder.
Subject to how Adelaide fares against Richmond on Sunday, they may stay there.
Leading comfortably at every change, Collingwood powered home to win 14.13 (97) to 12.11 (83), with strong performances from captain Scott Burns (23 touches), midfielders Dane Swan (25) and Scott Pendlebury (23), defender Harry O'Brien and ruckman Josh Fraser in his best game for 2008.
It was a gritty four-quarter effort, with the build-up to the already anticipated match intensifying when the club suspended stars Alan Didak and Heath Shaw for the rest of the season.
St Kilda contributed to the pitch when champion Robert Harvey announced on Wednesday he would retire at the end of the year, and the tireless veteran was his side's most damaging player of this clash with 28 disposals.
He was supported by Lenny Hayes (30) and Brendon Goddard (32), but the trio's efforts did little to inspire the often flat Saints and they trailed by 24 points at the main break.
Collingwood could have had an additional edge when St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt left the ground with split hand webbing in the second term, but he returned for the third quarter to offer his side all he could.
A goal to Adam Schneider, who kicked the last of the first half, had Collingwood momentarily rattled by their opponents' new energy.
Leon Davis, who had 11 possessions in the second term, kicked a very important steadier, but St Kilda still insisted on trading blows through the hard-working Clint Jones.
Tarkyn Lockyer, Stephen Milne and Dale Thomas continued the tug-o-war, but the Saints' surge was threatening. Their football was far better than anything they'd showed early in the game and Nick Dal Santo finally punched through in his duel with Pendlebury.
Remarkably, the margin was still 26 at the final change, but the Saints found the first three goals of the final term through Milne, Sam Fisher and Schneider to bring them within nine points.
Harvey, Goddard and Jason Gram were in the thick of so many contests, but when Swan kicked his third and Travis Cloke finally found his eye with four minutes to play, the Pies were home.
Debutant Chris Dawes kicked a goal with his first kick in the game's opening minute, as the Saints made some crucial errors and poor decisions that hampered them for a lot of the night.
Riewoldt was able to find a reply soon after, but successive goals to Swan and Davis saw the Magpies well clear.
Their speed was troubling St Kilda, but Koschitzke halted it with a strong mark and goal late in the term to see the gap as 14 points at the first change.
Burns' influence on the contest swelled as Davis collected some important touches in the middle, and a goal to Lockyer rewarded those efforts.
When Dawes kicked his second and John Anthony his first, Collingwood had a game-high 31-point lead and could have wrapped it up when Riewoldt left the field.
Somehow Schneider found a goal to give his side some hope and, for most of the second half, the Saints held onto it.
Collingwood made a late change before the first bounce, replacing Danny Stanley with Sharrod Wellingham.
Collingwood 4.4 7.5 11.9 14.13 (97)
St Kilda 2.2 3.5 7.7 12.11 (83)
GOALS
Collingwood: Swan 3, Anthony 3, Dawes 2, Davis 2, Lockyer 2, Thomas, Cloke
St Kilda: Schneider 3, Milne 2, Riewoldt 2, Koschitzke, Jones, Dal Santo, S. Fisher, Goddard
BEST
Collingwood: Swan,O'Brien, Fraser, Pendlebury, Clarke, Burns, Davis, Lockyer
St Kilda: Harvey, Goddard, S. Fisher, Hayes, Gram, Schneider
INJURIES
Collingwood: Stanley (back) replaced in selected side by Wellingham
St Kilda: Riewoldt (hand)
Reports: Fiora (St Kilda) reported by umpire Jeffery for striking McCarthy (Collingwood) in the second quarter
Umpires: McBurney, Rosebury, Jeffery
Official crowd: 52,135 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
