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By: Luke Mason
Collingwood broke through for its first win in the VFL since round seven when it held off Frankston to win by 30 points at Victoria Park; 17.16 (118) to 13.10 (88).
The star of the afternoon was Jye Bolton, who amassed 24 disposals and kicked four goals in what was surely his best game for the club. Second-year defender Tom Young again pressed his claims to become the club's fifth debutant in 2011 with 34 disposals and eight marks across half back, while Josh Thomas was influential around the stoppages with 29 disposals and eight tackles for the afternoon.
As usual, they were well complimented by a host of VFL listed Magpies including Tom Sundberg (23 disposals) and Tom Couch (20 disposals and three goals), who were again consistent four quarter performers. Rob Condy continued his good form in shutting down a variety of Frankston forwards, and captain Kris Pendlebury again registered a solid performance at full back.
Another player to take another step in his development was key position defender Tom Gordon. Placed on the rookie list last December, Gordon has played predominantly as a negator at full back, but provided some crucial rebound on Saturday (18 disposals, six marks). He was joined down back by Jack Perham, who took some important marks and linked up well against some slightly bigger opponents.
In further good news, a handful of players unknown to most Magpie supporters ticked off another step in their development against the Dolphins. International rookie Paul Cribbin returned to the side after a seven week injury layoff, and found 15 disposals and rebounded from the defensive 50m on three occasions.
Much hyped NSW Scholarship prospect Jarrod Witts made his VFL debut wearing Darren Jolly's N.o 18, and worked his way into the game (eight disposals, one mark, nine hitouts) in the ruck. Fellow NSW rookie Michael Hartley had his second outing for the side playing mainly as a defender, and ended the day seven disposals and three tackles.
John McCarthy (18 disposals, six inside 50s) and Cameron Wood (13 disposals, six marks, 25 hitouts, three tackles) were both credible in their roles after being omitted from the senior side on Thursday night.
Ben Sinclair and Kirk Ugle were both absent having been held over as emergencies for the senior side's clash with Essendon on Sunday. Sinclair got the nod to replace Dale Thomas hours before the match, and had eight disposals and kicked one goal.
Match summary
Score
Collingwood: 5.6 9.12 12.15 17.16 (118)
Frankston: 2.1 7.3 8.8 13.10 (88)
Goals
Collingwood: 4 Bolton, 3 Couch, 2 Bull, Seedsman, Wearden, Sundberg, Ceglar, McCarthy, Thomas, Rounds, Farmer
Frankston: 3 Doria, 2 Campisano, 2 Clements, Miller, Greeley, Mitchem, Gabriel, Cole, Clark
Best
Collingwood: Bolton, Sundberg, Young, Thomas, Bull, McCarthy
Frankston: Mitchem, Potts, Clark, Thoolen, Bosward, Miller
Click on the chat below to recap the play-by-play coverage.
