2020 Round 5: Essendon 63 Collingwood 48

THE FACTS

2020 AFL Round 6 COLLINGWOOD v HAWTHORN Time & Place: Friday July 10, 7:50pm AEST Sydney Showground Stadium TV: 7mate / Fox Footy Weather: 10° Chance of rain: 0% 0.0mm Wind: SW 4kph Betting: Collingwood $1.78 Hawthorn $2.05

ESSENDON            3.0.18   5.0.30   8.2.50   10.3.63
COLLINGWOOD    3.0.18   3.1.19   3.5.23     7.6.48

GOALS - Collingwood: Stephenson 3, Brown, Daicos, Mihocek, Varcoe

BEST - Collingwood: Treloar, Maynard, Daicos, Stephenson, Pendlebury

INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD - 0 at the MCG

What The Pies Coach Said "We didn’t play like we did in the first 10 minutes for the whole game. We got smacked at clearance … we got out-worked inside and Phillips battled well against Brodie and at ground level we weren’t able to win those 50-50 contests and the general momentum of play was inevitably going Essendon’s way. The last few months we have scored in chunks and haven’t scored for large parts of the game but that is nearly consistent with what we see across the comp. Cold comfort thought. The opposition brought more energy than we did … they out-tackled us, out-worked us inside and that generally gave their backs a little more time."  – Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley

Media Clippings 7news | AAP Nathan Buckley refused to make excuses after Collingwood's off-field week from hell was compounded by a 15-point defeat to fierce rivals Essendon on Friday night. The Pies' week got off to a horror start when vice-captain Steele Sidebottom and Lynden Dunn were suspended for breaches of AFL coronavirus protocols. And it got worse when they wasted a three-goal head start against the Bombers at the MCG and were held goalless for two and a half quarters before falling short in a final-quarter comeback. But Magpies coach Buckley said the external focus on Sidebottom, in particular, and the events that saw the All-Australian midfielder cop a four-week ban had no effect on the team's preparation or performance. "There's a fair bit happening in the environment and we've been pretty good at drawing the line between what happens during the week and what happens off-field and then what we do on-field," Magpies coach Buckley said. "So there's no excuses from our behalf in regards to that, we just weren't good enough tonight." NEWS.com.au Essendon’s see-sawing win over Collingwood has been overshadowed by a boiling score review farce that saw Jordan De Goey robbed of a goal. There were fears the controversial call could have proven decisive as Collingwood made a late fightback in a tense final quarter. The Bombers eventually responded to the Pies late charge by kicking the last two goals of the match after there had been less than a kick in it with five minutes to play. Essendon talls Jake Stringer and Andrew Phillips starred for the Dons as they held on for a 10.3 (63) to 7.6 (48). With the Pies desperately needing a spark in a barren third term, De Goey appeared to have given it to them when he found some space and kicked long to an open goal square. His kick saw the Sherrin land on the goal line before it took a rude turn sideways straight towards the goal posts. Unfortunately, the goal umpire was backtracking in the same direction and found himself wedged between the ball and the post. The ball eventually bounced into the goal umpire before it dribbled to the ground and back out of the goal mouth. The tough decision was sent to the score review after the goal umpire claimed he believed the kick was a goal if not for his interference. However, replays proved inconclusive with the ball failing to cross the line completely before it made contact with the official. AFL FOR SO long Essendon has been a side full of style. But its win over Collingwood on Friday night was one of substance. After last week's lacklustre defeat to Carlton, the Bombers struck back by beating Collingwood by 15 points at the MCG in a boilover. The Bombers didn't do it without a scare, though, having led by 28 points early in the last term. That was whittled back to three points midway through the last term after a flurry of Collingwood goals, however late majors to Jacob Townsend and Dylan Shiel sealed the 10.3 (63) to 7.6 (48) win. The Age Essendon, pipped by one ancient foe last weekend, have scored the club's most significant and satisfying victory of the season to date, surviving a belated Collingwood surge to win a critical game. In their first victory over the Magpies in three seasons, the Bombers withstood a Magpie fightback in the final quarter to move to 3-1 and will enter the "hub'' period with buoyant spirits. Dealing with a three-goal deficit and a rampant opposition, the Bombers transformed their fortunes by reeling off the next eight consecutive goals to set up their most impressive and important win of 2020. Essendon, underwhelming against the Blues, took control from the latter stages of the first quarter, wiping off that three-goal deficit to build a 27-point three-quarter-time lead, as an impotent and indirect Collingwood remained anchored on the same goal tally from the first term. The Pies, finally taking a direct route to goal rather than going via the cape, then booted four consecutive goals to edge within three points, one from a terrible decision that handed a goal to Callum Brown via a not-very-dangerous tackle. Challenged, the Dons booted the next two goals to secure victory – Jacob Townsend converting from a holding-the-ball free against Darcy Moore, and Dylan Shiel, probably best afield, adding the sealer from a snap to make the final margin 15 points. The Bombers were cleaner, more purposeful and had a greater hunger for the ball, while applying heat for the majority of the game. They had an unexpected hero in Andrew Phillips, the former Carlton ruckman, who rose to the challenge against Brodie Grundy to help the Dons gain an edge in clearances.