ESSENDON v. COLLINGWOOD

ESSENDON:

COLLINGWOOD:

ESSENDON:

Essendon led until late in the third quarter, but from there it was all black and white as Collingwood won their first Anzac Day match since 2002.

Led by Ben Johnson who won the Anzac Medal, the Magpies took control in the final quarter as the Bombers made too many errors in a scrappy game of football.

The Bombers went into the match undermanned with the loss during the week of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Camporeale and Mark Bolton and it was particularly the absence of Lloyd that caused Essendon most of the grief. Without him at full forward, the Bombers struggled to find a target forward for the majority of the match.

The Bombers quickly realised how much they had missed David Hille last week, when he kicked a goal from his own ruck work deep in the Essendon forward line in the first minute of the match.

Chris Heffernan kicked a goal from a set shot and the Bombers had got off to a great start.

Collingwood struggled to score early and it took a freak, off the ground goal from James Clement the Magpies to open their account.

A goal to Angus Monfries followed by Dean Rioli showing his class and great vision running into an open goal provided the Bombers a healthy cushion.

To the Magpies credit they fought back, but they too were wasteful with opportunities and late misses by Didak and Licuria on the siren, it helped the Bombers retain their buffer of 12 points at quarter time.

Nathan Lovett-Murray was popping up all over the ground and creating drive from centre-half back, racking up 11 possessions for the quarter.

While the endeavour was high, the skills from both teams were average, with numerous turnovers proving costly.

Essendon appeared to lack a forward structure and looked like it was struggling without the services of Lloyd. Scott Lucas was quiet for the first half, unable to have an impact in the match.

Collingwood got off to the start they wanted in the second quarter when Buckley kicked a goal in the first two minutes. For the remainder of the quarter the goals see-sawed as both teams were unable to kick consecutive goals.

With 15 seconds remaining in the half, an Essendon turnover gave Collingwood a set shot at goal and Dale Thomas made no mistake in punishing the Bombers and reducing the deficit to six points at half time.

David Hille remained the key player for the Bombers. On top in the ruck division, he had 17 hitouts and two goals to half time, while Josh Fraser had only eight hit outs.

The Bombers got off to a great start in the third quarter assisted when Hird received a 50- metre penalty and kicked his first goal of the game.

But as was the pattern in the previous quarters, the Bombers struggled to put consecutive goals on the board and when Collingwood did, Essendon held onto the smallest of margins.

A goal to Hille settled the Bombers slightly but it was only temporary as the Magpies kicked three of the next four goals of the match to take the lead for the first time. And had they been less wasteful with their opportunities it could have been a greater margin.

Essendon continued to have a problem in finding a focus when it went forward, and Collingwood was able to rebound the ball too quickly from its defence.

A free kick to Kepler Bradley on the three quarter time siren gave him the opportunity to draw back the Magpies, but when he was unable to convert the Magpies took a seven point lead into the final change.

It was a tense final quarter, until Didak and Thomas kicked the final two goals of the quarter to give the Magpies a 19-point lead and it looked like the game was over.

To Essendon’s credit it fought it out with goals to Hird and Lucas but Collingwood settled with the final two goals of the match to take the game by 17 points.

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