COLLINGWOOD has snapped St Kilda's six-game winning streak with a grinding 19-point victory in front of 46,505 fans at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
The Saints' form approaching the match had prompted suggestions, including from Magpies coach Mick Malthouse, that they were back to their 2010 Grand Final drawing best after a slow start to the season.
But the relentless Collingwood's 14.5 (89) to 10.10 (70) win showed that Ross Lyon's men still have some work to do if they're to challenge the competition leaders in this year's finals series.
It wasn't all bad news for St Kilda.
They were brave for much of the match and stuck with the reigning premier in the first half, going in at half-time trailing by a manageable 13 points.
But skill errors caused by Collingwood's unceasing pressure eventually cost the Saints.
The Magpies, through Andrew Krakouer, Sharrod Wellingham and Travis Cloke, kicked the first three goals of the third quarter to open a 29-point break.
St Kilda clawed back to within four goals at the final change, but when Dane Swan and Leigh Brown booted the first two goals of the fourth quarter, the Magpies were nearly six goals in front and in control.
St Kilda fought on well and finished with more inside 50s and more scoring shots, but a "brave loss" was not what Lyon came to the ground looking for.
Influential players and goal-kickers
Leon Davis (36 possessions, eight rebounds from defensive 50) was best afield, his bursting run and piercing ball use cutting the Saints to shreds off half-back.
Ben Johnson (32 possessions) was rarely out of the action, Swan (34 possessions, nine clearances) was excellent in the clinches, and Ben Reid (21 possessions, three contested marks, seven rebounds from defensive 50) strengthened his claim to the All Australian centre-half-back position with another outstanding game.
Davis, Swan, Dayne Beams and Cloke all kicked two goals.
For the Saints, Leigh Montagna (24 possessions) booted three goals and fought hard all night.
Nick Dal Santo (28 possessions) and Clinton Jones (26 possessions, eight tackles) maintained their prolific ball-gathering form through the midfield, but other key players were down on their usual output.
In-form small forward Stephen Milne needed just one goal to pass Matthew Lloyd as the all-time leading goal-kicker at Etihad Stadium, but it took him until the 23-minute mark of the final quarter to achieve the milestone.
He was comprehensively beaten by Harry O'Brien.
Nick Riewoldt kicked two goals but rarely had the football in his hands - he finished with 10 disposals - and Brendon Goddard was another star whose influence was limited.
What it means
The Magpies are now 16 points plus percentage clear of third-placed Hawthorn, meaning they can't be dislodged from the top two even in the seemingly impossible event that they lose their last three games of the home and away season.
St Kilda is under pressure to maintain its grip on a home elimination final, with Essendon and the Sydney Swans both a chance to draw level on points by the end of this round.
Next week's clash with the Swans at ANZ Stadium looms as a September-shaping encounter.
Rough conduct or perfect shepherd?
Collingwood fans and the umpire disagreed on whether full-back Chris Tarrant had laid a textbook shepherd with two minutes left in the second quarter, or whether he'd broken the rules.
With teammate Tyson Goldsack running off half-pack pursued by Justin Koschitzke, Tarrant ran 30 metres and, at full steam, planted a solid bump on the unsuspecting Saint, sending him sprawling to the turf.
The black and white army's roars of approval quickly turned to howls of outrage as the umpire blew his whistle, not only awarding a free kick to Koschitzke, but putting Tarrant on report for rough conduct as well.
What the coaches said
Mick Malthouse: ''It was a defensive game right across the board. When you have 39 shots on goal and 132 entries between [the two sides], that is less than 50 per cent conversion. It was finals like pressure. That was terrific really."
Ross Lyon: "The bottom line is, we fell short. We're not happy with that. Clearly we've improved on where we were, but we've still got a fair bit of work in front of us. We know we still need to win to make the finals. It's not about gallant efforts and losses. Once you start accepting those as a club, I'm not sure where it takes you."
QUARTER BY QUARTER
FIRST QUARTER
It was an intense opening quarter with St Kilda having the better in the opening minutes. Clinton Jones was influential winning the ball in the centre of the ground even though he was assigned to tag Dane Swan. After his hard lead was rewarded, Nick Riewoldt kicked the opening goal. Collingwood was able to answer quickly with Darren Jolly kicking the Magpies' first goal. Leigh Montagna kicked the Saints second from 45 metres out, before the Magpies poured on the pressure kicking the last four goals of the term, including two goals to defender Leon Davis, to take a 19-point lead into the break.
Collingwood by 19 points
SECOND QUARTER
Just as they did in the opening term, the Saints controlled the early part of the second quarter. Davis overstepped the mark and conceded a 50-metre penalty to give Nick Dal Santo the first goal of the quarter and the Saints plenty of momentum. Montagna's second goal came after he swept onto a loose ball spilled from a Riewoldt/Chris Tarrant marking contest. Riewoldt's second goal of the night cut Collingwood's lead to just a point. But again the Pies settled late in the quarter and late goals from Dayne Beams and Alex Fasolo extended the lead. The talking point of the quarter came in the final minutes when Tarrant was reported after laying a heavy shepherd on Justin Koschitzke.
Collingwood by 13 points
THIRD QUARTER
The Magpies controlled the third term. Just a minute into the quarter, Zac Dawson gave away a free kick for a high shepherd on Andrew Krakouer. With the Magpie forward just 15 metres out, the gifted goal was the perfect start to the term for the Pies. Goals then came to Sharrod Wellingham and Travis Cloke. The Saints' only goal of the term was courtesy of a free kick to Adam Schneider, bringing the lead back to 21 points at the final break. The highlight of the term was a soaring mark from Alex Fasolo.
Collingwood by 21 points
FOURTH QUARTER
It took more than seven minutes and a remarkable goal from Dane Swan to break the deadlock in the final term. Swan laid a tackle on Sam Gilbert, broke his own tackler and then bounced the ball through three players to kick the opening goal of the quarter. A couple of minutes later, Dale Thomas found Leigh Brown in space, and the versatile ruckman ran into an open goal to give the Magpies a match winning 34-point lead. The highlight for the Saints came late in the quarter when Stephen Milne kicked his first goal of the night. The goal, a set shot from just inside 50, gave Milne his 300th goal at Etihad Stadium, the most goals kicked by one player at the stadium.
Collingwood by 19 points
Next three
St Kilda: Sydney Swans (ANZ), North Melbourne (ES), Carlton (MCG)
Collingwood: Brisbane Lions (MCG), Fremantle (PS), Geelong (MCG)
Toyota AFL Dream Team highlight
St Kilda: Montagna was the leading Saint with 132 points.
Collingwood: Swan (137 points) and Davis (136) were the leading Dream Team scorers on the ground.
COLLINGWOOD 5.2 8.4 11.4 14.5 (89)
ST KILDA 2.1 6.3 7.7 10.10 (70)
GOALS
Collingwood: Davis 2, Beams 2, Cloke 2, Swan 2, Krackouer, Pendlebury, Brown, Jolly, Wellingham, Fasolo
St Kilda: Montagna 3, Riewoldt 2, Schneider 2, Dal Santo, Polo, Milne
BEST
Collingwood: Davis, Johnson, Reid, Swan, O'Brien, Krakouer
St Kilda: Montagna, Dal Santo, Jones, Fisher
INJURIES
Collingwood: S.Wellingham (hip)
St Kilda: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: L.Rounds substituted for A.Didak during the third quarter.
St Kilda: D. Armitage substituted for J.Blake during the third quarter.
Reports: C.Tarrant (Collingwood) for rough conduct against J.Koschitzke (St Kilda)
Umpires: C.Donlon, R.Findlay, S.Ryan
Crowd: 46,505 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
