COLLINGWOOD has won the 13th Anzac Day clash against Essendon by 16 points at the MCG on Wednesday in front of a crowd of 90,508 passionate supporters.
The Magpies were relentless in their 12.23 (95) to 11.13 (79) victory, which was obtained just four days after they slogged it out with Port Adelaide in the rain, and were simply harder and more determined than the Bombers.
On the second biggest day of the football calendar, rapidly-improving defender Heath Shaw was named as best on field and awarded the Anzac Day Medal for his performance of 32 disposals.
Essendon got off to the better start but Collingwood found more ways to win the ball, and were driven by its army of dogged and determined midfielders – namely the Shaw brothers, Dane Swan, Scott Burns and Tarkyn Locker – while acting captain James Clement was superb down back.
In the first term, Josh Fraser lined up in the forward line with former Carlton ruckman Chris Bryan – playing in his first match in the black and white – started in the middle.
With Fraser attracting the attention of renowned full-back Dustin Fletcher, Anthony Rocca was left for Mal Michael to attempt to curtail, while Mark Johnson picked up Alan Didak.
Both sides started the match with a loose man in defence – Heath Shaw for the Pies and Adam McPhee for the Bombers, and it didn't take long before Shaw and co. were under siege down back with the ball coming in almost straight away.
The Pies appeared a little startled at the pace the Bombers set the game at, and Matthew Lloyd quickly slotted two – and missed two – after getting away from Clement.
It took them about 10 minutes but the Pies eventually settled, and while Travis Cloke, Scott Pendlebury, Burns and Bryan all executed shots that deviated from the middle of the goals, Tarkyn Lockyer nailed their first – and only – for the term.
It was an 11-point lead to the Bombers at quarter-time, with Heath and Rhyce Shaw both running hot in defence and Cloke amassing plenty of disposals up in the forward line.
Didak picked up a few touches early in the second and slotted his first goal post-knee reconstruction before jogging to the bench for a spell. His major was quickly answered by Essendon livewire Alwyn Davey, who shrugged off a Burns tackle to run into an open goal.
The Pies had more of the ball in the second, and a classy team goal from Ben Johnson – fed by a Rocca handpass – put the side in front for the first time just before red time.
Karma came around to Rocca and he got his own six-pointer later in the term, but a converted set shot from Courtney Johns after the siren levelled the scores and the teams went into the rooms locked on 42 points apiece.
Last week's NAB AFL Rising Star nominee in Pendlebury broke the deadlock early in the third with his first goal, and Cloke was able to consolidate with another due to the Pies' midfield dominance.
The Pies got the break they needed through two late goals from Didak, and with Heath Shaw running rampant off half-back, Cloke throwing his weight around up forward and Clement dictating proceedings in defence, they took a deserving 12-point lead into the final term.
The arm-wrestle continued and a Mark Johnson goal narrowed the gap to one straight kick. The Pies however, had much to say about that, and remained strong in the face of adversity to claim the four points.
The Magpies now have a much-deserved nine-day break before they travel to Adelaide to meet the Crows at AAMI Stadium.
Collingwood 1.5 5.12 9.16 12.23 (95)Essendon 3.4 6.6 8.10 11.13 (79)GOALSCollingwood: Didak 3, Rocca 3, Johnson, Pendlebury, Cloke, Lockyer, DickEssendon: Lloyd 3, Davey 3, Johns 2, Bolton, Johnson, MonfriesBESTCollingwood: H Shaw S Burns J Clement T Lockyer R Shaw T Cloke H O'Brien
Essendon: D Peverill D Fletcher P Ryder A McPhee.Reports: NilUmpires: M Vozzo S Jeffery S McInerneyOfficial Crowd: 90,508 at MCG
