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By: Luke Mason
Collingwood's VFL finals hopes for 2011 are dashed, with Geelong running away with a 39-point win at Skilled Stadium on Saturday; 17.8 (120) to 12.9 (81).
The Magpies stuck with the home side for the best part of three quarters before the Cats put the foot down in the final term to end up with a comfortable victory.
What would have pleased their coach Tarkyn Lockyer was the players' ability to continue to stick to their task and apply pressure in the second half, despite Geelong putting them away on the scoreboard. The match was entertaining, with both sides enjoying various patches of dominance. The difference between the two sides was Geelong's ability to capitalise on their opportunities, and make the Pies pay in front of goal when they had the momentum.
The Pies were weakened pre-game with the loss of Brent Macaffer, who flew to Adelaide as an emergency for the seniors match that evening. It left John McCarthy as the only player with more than five games of AFL experience wearing black and white.
In light of this, several players took it upon themselves to stand up. Paul Seedsman's excellent second half of the season continued with 29 disposals and 10 marks across half back.
Others to put forward a strong case of a late-season debut were Josh Thomas and Tom Young, who had 25 disposals apiece. A noteworthy feature of both players were their defensive efforts, with Young creating a handful of scoring opportunities through pressure in the second term.
NSW Scholarship big man Jarrod Witts was excellent in his second VFL match, playing mainly at full forward. Witts was able to use his size to create a presence deep in attack, bringing the ball to ground for his crumbers and plucking two strong grabs that led to goals of his own.
John McCarthy had 21 disposals and did his senior hopes no harm, and Rob Condy did a fine job in restricting Geelong dangerman Jonathan Simpkin to one goal.
Collingwood take on the Bendigo Bombers at Victoria Park at 2pm next Saturday.
Match summary
Final score
Collingwood: 3.2 7.5 9.8 12.9 (81)
Geelong: 4.4 7.7 12.13 17.8 (120)
Goals
Collingwood: Bull 3, Farmer 2, Witts 2, McCarthy, Witts, Folino, Seedsman, Thomas
Geelong: Schroder 3, Johnson 3, Shannanhan 2, Motlop 2, Simpkin, McLean, Burbury, Horlin-Smith, Cowan, Vardy, Stringer
Best
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Young, Bull, Condy, Ugle, Thomas
Geelong: Simpkin, Hogan, Cowan, Johnson, Gillies, Motlop
Disposals
29 - Seedsman
25 - Young, Thomas
21 - McCarthy
20 - Bolton, Pendlebury
Final team
Collingwood
B: Tom Young, Lachlan Keeffe, Jye Bolton
HB: Kirk Ugle, Kris Pendlebury, Daniel Farmer
C: Paul Cribbin, Ben Sinclair, John McCarthy
HF: Tom Gordon, Jack Perham, Paul Seedsman
F: Scott Reed, Jonathan Ceglar, Declan Reilly
R: Shae McNamara, Josh Thomas, Tom Couch
Int: Jack Bull, Patrick Wearden*, David Folino, Jarrod Witts, Rob Condy
