Magpies Outlast Saints As Gehrig's Days Numbered

The Age

Saturday May 17, 2008

By Len Johnson

COLLINGWOOD outlasted St Kilda by nine points last night after a high-intensity match in which both teams ran themselves to a standstill.

Like two tired marathoners trying to raise a final sprint, the teams slugged out the dying minutes after a Shane Birss goal with just over four minutes left to play had narrowed the margin to 10 points.

Both teams were plodding, Collingwood was merely plodding a little less slowly.

Robert Harvey, the oldest man on the field but one of the few who could still muster some run, had two bounces through the centre of the ground and put the ball on Stephen Milne's chest with three minutes left.

But the small forward pushed his shot wide and there was no further score.

The Saints had one more chance, pushing the ball forward.

But Milne could not outmark Harry O'Brien and when the ball bounced out of bounds on the full off Steven King's foot, Collingwood was able to clear it out in front of a crowd of 48,417.

With Collingwood leading by 11 points at the start of the final quarter, the first goal was vital.

Luke Ball had a shot for the Saints, which missed, but then Alan Didak pushed off Sean Dempster to create enough space to snap a goal, which gave the Pies a vital 17-point break.

Ball, Nick Dal Santo, Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna were all high-possession winners for the Saints, but halfway through the final term, none of them could raise a gallop.

Their Collingwood counterparts - Dane Swan, Leon Davis, Scott Pendlebury and Scott Burns outlasted them by a vital couple of minutes and, in the end, that was about the difference in an entertaining match.

Whatever happens in the rest of the round, Collingwood will finish it ahead of St Kilda on the ladder.

Last night's win means both have won four and lost four of their first eight games, but Collingwood has the superior percentage. The Magpies may need a little breathing space - they meet Geelong at the MCG next Friday night.

Of immediate concern in the aftermath of this win will be how several players who looked sore in the final term - notably Didak and Davis - pull up.

St Kilda has its own problems.

For much of the night, Milne was its forward target as Fraser Gehrig - after a bright start in which he set up a goal for Montagna, scored one of his own and had another shot at goal - was largely unsighted.

It faces a testing trip to Brisbane next week to play the Lions on a Sunday afternoon.

A goal to Tarkyn Lockyer from a contentious free kick gave Collingwood a vital break going into the final term.

St Kilda defender Brendon Goddard looked desperately unlucky to come out on the wrong end of the umpire's call as he and his opponent locked arms under a high ball.

Certainly, Lockyer went to ground, but in one continuous action, he toppled Goddard over, too.

But Collingwood deserved the lead.

It had fought hard to get on even terms in the centre clearances where it had been smashed by a Ball-led St Kilda in the first half.

As in the first term, Collingwood did its best work early in the quarter.

Davis produced a bit of magic, keeping the ball in play near the behind post and snapping a miraculous goal around his body to open the scoring for the term.

Then Ben Johnson sneaked forward to mark just inside 50 and extend the margin to 18 points.

A goal to Justin Koschitzke midway through the quarter finally broke a run of five unanswered Collingwood goals.

Jason Gram immediately got another as he got the ball in space just outside 50 metres on the flank.

Just as in the second term, Collingwood got a goal in the last seconds, only this time it was with the help of a hefty slice of luck.

From the restart, Anthony Rocca was paid a free kick just as the siren sounded. He took an optimistic shot from just the attacking side of the centre circle, but it never looked like making the distance.

Collingwood took a four-point lead into half-time when Dale Thomas goaled from a mark 30 metres out.

His kick was taken after the siren.

It had been an entertaining first half, with Collingwood getting an early break and then St Kilda having the upper hand for the rest of the half.

That edge was not reflected on the scoreboard, however, illustrated by Hayes' miss from a set shot 40 metres out from goal just a minute before Thomas put the Pies back in front.

Ball was brilliant for St Kilda early, amassing 12 possessions and, more tellingly, five clearances in the first term. Despite that, Collingwood had the early ascendancy.

The game opened at a great rate, most of the players presumably refreshed after the break for the Hall of Fame tribute game.

FAST FOOTY

COLLINGWOOD

5.1 10.3 14.5 16.7 (103)

ST KILDA

6.39.5 12.6 14.10 (94)

GOALS - Collingwood: Didak 3, Burns 2, Medhurst 2, Rocca, O'Brien, Pendlebury, Bryan, Wellingham, Davis, Johnson, Lockyer, Thomas. St Kilda: Milne 2, Dal Santo 2, Armitage 2, Birss 2, Montagna, Gehrig, Goddard, Gram, Koschitzke, Harvey.

BEST - Collingwood: Didak, Davis, R Shaw, Thomas, Burns. St Kilda: Ball, Hayes, S Fisher, Armitage, Dal Santo.

UMPIRES: Rosebury, McInerney, Stevic.

CROWD: 48,417 at Telstra Dome.

THE UPSHOT

After a brief encounter with a state representative game, footy, as we usually know it, was back. There was no doubting the intent of players last night, or the ferocity of their contests. Having four points up for grabs will do that every time.

TALKING POINT

Three yellow lines were drawn around both interchange benches and, for the first time, officials dressed in orange were charged with monitoring the rotations of both sides. It was the AFL's reaction to the controversial 19th man that Sydney fielded in a recent match with North Melbourne. Collingwood, in particular, appeared to struggle with the slower interchange process in last night's trial.

HOT AND COLD

Fraser Gehrig made a promising start - providing several goal assists to teammates in the opening term and nailing one himself. But when the game was on the line in the final term, the veteran spearhead was on and off the bench. And, in an attack missing Nick Riewoldt, Gehrig could not crack the game open like he once might have.

© 2008 The Age

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