COLLINGWOOD has romped to an emphatic 73-point victory over Essendon in the Anzac Day clash at the MCG.

The 14th Anzac Day meeting between the two clubs was disappointing for the red and black half of the 88,999-strong crowd with the Magpies clearly the better side after an even first quarter.

Collingwood led by 53 points at the last change and powered away in the final term to set up the 23.16 (154) to 12.9 (81) scoreline; the highest margin since the Anzac Day contests began in 1995.

The outcome of the match was effectively decided in the second quarter when the Pies slammed through six unanswered goals after Kyle Reimers booted the Dons’ only major of the term at the six-minute mark.

Paul Medhurst was awarded the Anzac Medal for his outstanding performance that saw him kick six goals from 17 possessions with one of his eight marks a contender for mark of the year.

The lively forward flew high over Reimers and Dane Swan at the Punt Road end in the third quarter and pulled down a mark that had the black-and-white army on its feet.

Travis Cloke provided a strong presence inside the forward 50 and finished with five goals, while Scott Pendlebury (33 disposals), Heath Shaw (24) and Shane O’Bree (26) were also prominent.

The Dons had few winners on the day, but Jobe Watson battled hard all day for his 30 possessions with Matthew Lloyd their only multiple goalkicker with three.

Both teams were forced into making late changes with Anthony Rocca out for the Pies, replaced by debutant Sharrod Wellingham, while Nathan Lovett-Murray came in for Bomber speedster Alwyn Davey, who injured his knee during a training session at Windy Hill on Thursday.

A shootout was in the offing early with both sides putting on five goals in a free-flowing first quarter. Majors to Ben Johnson and Tarkyn Lockyer canceled out Jason Laycock’s opener, but Matthew Lloyd was proving a handful for Nathan Brown with two goals of his own.

Regular defender Dustin Fletcher, who left the game in the third quarter with a groin injury, started up forward for Essendon and the ploy worked briefly when he converted from a tough angle to give his side the lead late in the term.

Courtney Johns started down back for the Bombers in his first game of the season, but his first term was memorable for the wrong reasons as he went into the umpire’s book for a late hit on Scott Pendlebury.

Jason Winderlich got the job on Medhurst early, but the former Docker gave him the slip on two occasions with successive goals helping Collingwood to a slender one-point lead at the first break.

A change came over the contest in the second with the action getting bogged down between the 50 m arcs. The tackling pressure exerted by the Magpies became more of a factor as the term went on with Essendon’s turnover count rising.

Dale Thomas had seen little of the ball until he goaled in the 13th minute, but it proved a pivotal moment as the floodgates opened from then on.

Cloke sent one sailing through the middle with one foot inside the centre square, Tyson Goldsack intercepted a Bomber hand pass to register his side’s eighth and the Pies were away.

Three more goals followed late in the term as the lead grew, but the 31-point half-time margin would have been even greater if Collingwood had been a little more accurate in front of goal.

Essendon needed a marked lift in intensity to spark a reversal of fortunes, but it wasn’t forthcoming as the Pies clinically set about increasing their lead.

The only joy for Bomber supporters came when Andrew Welsh scored his side’s first goal in over 30 minutes of play, but it was the only major of the term at the city end.

With the sting out of the game, Medhurst livened things up with his towering grab which led to his fifth with Collingwood up by an imposing 53 points at three-quarter time. 

The Bomber managed three goals in succession midway through the last quarter, but the Magpies finished strongly with Cloke adding three of his goals to help his side to the comfortable win.

Essendon       5.2  6.6     7.7    12.9 (81)

GOALS

Collingwood: Medhurst 6, Cloke 5, Davis 3, Lockyer 3, Didak, Goldsack, Johnson, Swan, Thomas, Wood

Essendon: Lloyd 3, Dyson, Fletcher, Johns, Laycock, Michael, Nash, Reimers, Stanton, Welsh

BEST

Collingwood: Medhurst, Cloke, Pendlebury, Swan, H.Shaw, O'Bree, Didak, Davis, Johnson, R.Shaw

Essendon: Watson, Stanton, Hille, Lloyd

INJURIES

Collingwood: Rocca replaced in selected side by Wellingham

Essendon: Fletcher (groin), Davey (knee) replaced in selected side by Lovett-Murray

REPORTS

Essendon: Johns reported for rough conduct on Pendlebury

Umpires: Vozzo, Rosebury, McInerney

Crowd: 88,999 at the MCG