Pies in a canter

Collingwood's mid-season surge hit fever-pitch on Friday night when the Magpies notched their sixth-straight win and snapped Essendon's recent surge with a 35point victory at the MCG.

In a match Essendon great James Hird labelled the most important between the clubs since the 1990 Grand Final, it was the Magpies who strengthened their hold on a top-four spot while leaving the suddenly-sluggish Bombers just hanging in the eight.

The win also erased the bitter memory of the Round 5 Anzac Day loss when the Magpies were beaten by a late goal.

Ruckman Josh Fraser and forward Travis Cloke were instrumental in the win, particularly in the second term when the Magpies pumped through six unanswered goals to turn a three-point deficit at quarter-time into a 34-point buffer by the main break.

The Bombers rallied briefly in the third term to cut the deficit to four goals but the Magpies were never really threatened and would have even impressed Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, who celebrated his 47th birthday in a corporate box at the ground.

Criticised for his tentative play on Anzac Day when thrashed by Paddy Ryder, Fraser responded with a best-on-ground effort and one of the one dominant performances of his 187-game career.

He finished with 23 possessions, seven marks and a goal and boasted a whopping 35-15 advantage over Ryder in hit-outs, including an 18-4 buffer at half-time.

After a sluggish start when opponent Adam McPhee dictated play across half-back, Cloke asserted his authority with 13 touches, five marks and three goals before half-time.

While he would add only one more goal after the break, Cloke's body work remained impeccable in clearly his best game of the season.

He also made the Bombers lament their poor kicking for goal in the first term when they should have led by more than three points.

The Bombers owned the centre-corridor but wasted shots by the likes of Matthew Lloyd and Kyle Reimers would haunt their side.

There was a moment of first-quarter magic when Alwyn Davey pounced on a loose ball and drilled a left-foot 'banana' from the pocket but the Bombers lacked the killer-punch they had in big wins over Melbourne and Carlton heading into this clash.

Missing key midfielders Jobe Watson (ankle) and Mark McVeigh (club-imposed suspension), the Bombers also lacked drive and were harassed into regular errors by the Magpies' ferocious tackling.

Andrew Welsh may have blanketed Chris Judd a week earlier but he was powerless to curb the rampant and hard-running Dane Swan (29 possessions).

The Magpies lifted their intensity in the second term and punished the Bombers on the scoreboard.

Full-forward John Anthony did not touch the ball in the first quarter but his mark and goal less than two minutes into the second term gave the Magpies their first lead of the night.

The Bombers responded just minutes later when Angus Monfries capitalised on a high tackle from Alan Toovey but that was to be their only joy for the term.

With the hard-running Alan Didak (35 possessions) and Swan dominating the midfield and Dale Thomas lively across half-forward, the Magpies took charge despite having only three more inside 50s than their opponent.

The exclamation mark came when Thomas conjured a brilliant goal off the ground after somehow swinging his right leg in front of Dustin Fletcher despite the Bomber veteran having front position when the pair chased down a loose ball.

While the Bombers had a brief rally when they mustered three of the four goals kicked midway through the third term, they never mounted a serious assault at victory.


COLLINGWOOD 2.3, 9.6, 12.10, 15.12 (102)
ESSENDON 2.6, 3.8, 6.10, 9.13 (67)
GOALS: Collingwood: Cloke 4, Thomas 2, Beams 2, Medhurst, Davis, Anthony, Swann, Lockyer, Dick, Fraser.
Essendon: Lucas 3, Lloyd 2, Davey, Monfries, Reimers, Lovett.
BEST: Collingwood: Didak, Swan, Thomas, Cloke, Fraser, Beams.
Essendon:McPhee, Lovett, Prismall, Lucas, Fletcher.
INJURIES: Collingwood: TBC.
Essendon: TBC.
REPORTS: Nil.
CHANGES: Nil.
UMPIRES: Kennedy, Meredith, Ryan.
CROWD: 77,699 at the MCG.