> Watch Luke Ball speak about the need for improvement after the winCOLLINGWOOD has firmed as premiership favourites and tightened its grip on top spot by defeating Geelong by 22 points at the MCG on Saturday night.
The highly-anticipated clash between first and second did not disappoint with 84,401 fans turning out to see Pies win 14.23 (107) to 12.13 (85).
The victory sees the Magpies move a game and a half clear of the Cats with three home-and-away matches remaining.
Submit your 3, 2, 1 votes in the win over Geelong
Alan Didak (35 touches, six inside 50s) and Scott Pendlebury (24 touches, seven clearances while tagged by Cameron Ling) were enormous for the Pies, while Luke Ball had 14 tackles.
The Cats will be seething after a goal was disallowed in the third quarter. At the seven-minute mark, Shannon Byrnes ran into goal and got his foot to the ball well before the line, but the goal umpire ruled that Byrnes had kicked the ball while over the line and awarded a point.
Had it been a major the Cats would have moved out to a two-goal lead - their biggest of the night.
> Watch the team sing the song after the winLater, the Cats got a goal back after Collingwood kicked inaccurately but the momentum was able to swing again when the Pies got on a three-goal run and moved to a 13-point lead at the final break.
In a fascinating first half, the Magpies virtually locked the ball inside their forward 50 for a quarter and a half and denied the Cats opportunities to score.
Such was their dominance, instigated by midfield drive from Sharrod Wellingham and Pendlebury, that the inside 50 count at quarter time was 19 to nine in the Pies’ favour.
It took the Cats 11 minutes to venture inside their attacking arc in the second, which cost them three goals and a 28-point deficit.
However, their class shone through when they were able to reduce that margin to one point in less than 10 minutes.
Late goals to Joel Selwood and Joel Corey gave the Cats the lead for the first time, with Corey’s coming just nine seconds before half time.
> Watch Mick Malthouse address the media postmatchBoth sides lost a player - Ben Reid (quad) in the first quarter and Harry Taylor (shoulder) late in the second, although the latter returned in the fourth.
The Byrnes decision was the talking point of the third term before the Pies put their kicking boots on late in the quarter to stage another massive turnaround.
The Magpies’ 13-point three-quarter time lead was extended when Darren Jolly kicked the first goal of the final term.
The result was sealed when Dayne Beams kicked his second with three minutes remaining.
Geelong 3.1 9.4 11.8 12.13 (85)
Collingwood 4.5 8.9 12.15 14.23 (107)
GOALS
Geelong: Stokes 3, S. Johnson 2, Podsiadly, Chapman, Varcoe, Ablett, Selwood, Corey, Byrnes
Collingwood: Beams 3, Wellingham 2, Cloke 2, Didak, Brown, Macaffer, Swan, Thomas, B. Johnson, Jolly
BEST
Geelong: Ablett, Chapman, Enright, Varcoe, Selwood, Ling, Scarlett, Mooney
Collingwood: Didak, Pendlebury, Thomas, Swan, Wellingham, Macaffer, Goldsack, O’Brien
INJURIES
Geelong: Wojcinski (achilles) replaced in the selected side by Podsiadly
Collingwood: Reid (quad)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Stevic, McInerney
Official crowd: 84,401 at MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
