Pretty Black and White Wrap UP Carlton V Collingwood AFL – MCG Saturday 11 May 2019

This game looked like Collingwood’s usual start, but it was not to be. Our first shot at goal fell short and the Blues responded with a point. It was good to see Mayne return after fracturing his spine. Elliott looked good early and had a run with 3 bounces and did a give and go. The Pies were not looking like their usual selves, but they found a way with a beautifully accurate kick from Pendlebury to Stephenson giving Collingwood their first goal. Langdon had some good spoils in defence and whilst there were many hands on the ball the Pies looked disorganised as the Blues applied great pressure in the Pies 50. Thomas was effective early and stole the ball out of the Blues 50 getting the ball to an easy target in Grundy. The Pies defence was intense and stopped the Blues from finishing giving them only a point. The ball made its way down to the Pies 50 and in all the mess Thomas had a quick grab and stab and scored Collingwood’s second goal. Curnow (Carlton) replied with a goal of his own. Elliott attempted a torpedo from about 55 metres out on the siren but didn’t add to the tally. The Pies led by 3 points at the first break.
The second quarter saw the Pies start hard and Mihocek taken high. He sent a long kick to Grundy. Grundy marked the ball and was assisted by De Goey screening his player. Grundy kicked his first goal for the year and the 3rd goal for the Pies. The Pies had impressive looking moments moving the ball up the field with some great kicks and marks but no points. Moore was run down with the ball and the Blues caught the Pies off guard and quickly moved the ball to their 50 but couldn’t convert. Roughead scored a free for a push in the back and Elliott put in second and third efforts on the ball in the Pies 50 but the ball made it back to the Blues 50. Carlton found space and another goal. Not to be outdone Brown pulled out some great footwork and delivered the ball to De Goey but only managed a point. Carlton responded with yet another goal. The Pies smothered 3 in a row but didn’t follow up and Carlton kicked another goal. Collingwood won the clearance and Reid marks the ball and quickly passes it on to a waiting Phillips who goals. And it was Collingwood again with a neat kick from Brown to Grundy for his second goal. The Blues add another point just before the siren. The scores were level going into the main break.
The third term saw Mihocek lead the way by playing in front, marking and kicking a quick goal for the Pies. Carlton capitalised on Collingwood’s errors and added another goal to their tally giving them a one-point lead over the Pies. Phillips threaded the eye of the needle with a clever kick to Stephenson who passed it to Brown and added another welcome goal to the black and white tally. Brown also added another point to the total from a set shot. Curnow (Carlton) goaled and levelled the scores again. The Blues scored another 2 goals making it three in a row for them. Grundy added another point and then De Goey took a one-handed mark and scored his first goal for the game. The Blues added another point. Grundy and Reid delivered the ball to Hoskin-Elliott who gave Collingwood another goal. Carlton responded with a goal and Treloar added another point. Carlton led by 5 points going into the final break.
The final quarter saw the Blues run out of steam and the Pies put their foot down. Treloar goaled after the combined efforts of Reid and Hoskin-Elliott. Mihocek and Stephenson worked well to give Stephenson another goal. Mihocek still in the thick of it earned a free and took a shot at goal. Carlton scored another two goals in quick succession and added a point. Crisp marked the ball and kick from around 70 metres out and scored a much-needed goal for Collingwood with about 5 minutes left of the game. It opened the Collingwood flood gates and Brown soccered the next goal off the ground as did De Goey. Phillips added another goal to the black and white tally which really was the nail in the coffin for Carlton and saw many Carlton supporters leave the G. Collingwood’s kick placement was on and Hoskin-Elliott took a great mark and scored the final goal for the game. Giving Collingwood 5 goals in a row and the win by 19 points.
 
Final Score  Pies  10  13 73           Blues 10  9  69   Pies by 19 points
My Take
Wow! What a game. Collingwood struggled with behinds yet again but it’s nice to know that we are not the only team in the league that have this problem. The Pies started the chipping backwards again. I understand why it is done but it should not be a go to. If it is not done well it can be expensive. And as much as it was a messy game and Collingwood applied plenty of pressure when it was our turn with the ball, the decision making was just not there. We didn’t dominate the clearances and we had a lot less disposals than the opposition. We also lacked second and third efforts especially after a smother. I think the team started to gel in third quarter even though we finished the third quarter down by 5 points. For the bulk of the game we struggled in our 50 and had trouble breaking through opposition defence and converting. But what was great was the last 5 minutes of the game when the Magpies attack was relentless. Every player gave their all and it appears that Carlton lacked the stamina to sustain the savage Magpie attack. Thankfully we got over the line by 19 points. A good contest but not for the first 90 percent of the game for the Collingwood faithful. I think we can learn from this game and put it behind us. Bring on next week against St Kilda. Go Pies!
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