Collingwood down Dockers by nine points - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Collingwood down Dockers by nine points

By Sam Lienert 01/06/2007 10:48:36 PM Comments (0)

Collingwood key forward Anthony Rocca has put his goal-kicking woes behind him, kicking five goals straight as the Magpies notched a nine-point AFL win over Fremantle at the MCG.

Magpies goalsneak Leon Davis also starred, kicking four straight, all of them gems, to highlight the 15.13 (103) to 13.16 (94) victory.

Normally accurate Fremantle star forward Matthew Pavlich had a horror night, kicking 4.7, while former Collingwood forward Chris Tarrant kicked 0.2 for the Dockers, his misses delighting the pro-Magpies crowd.

The varying fortunes of forwards told a major part of the story as Fremantle had the ascendancy in general play before half-time, and again late in the game, but failed to make the most of it.

With giant Fremantle ruckman Aaron Sandilands winning most of the taps and Paul Hasleby racking up possessions at ground level, the Dockers were on top early.

They kicked three of the first four goals to quickly establish a 13-point lead.

But after Pavlich, who looked a major threat, kicked the opening goal of the match, he missed with another set shot soon after, while Tarrant also sprayed a shot midway through the opening term.

At the other end, Davis goaled with three clever snaps in the first half, including a gem from 40m close to half-time to keep his side's half-time deficit at five points.

The game swung the Magpies' way in the third term, their midfielders willing to run harder.

It allowed them to move the ball into their forward line with chains of uncontested possessions on several occasions.

Dane Swan led the way, piling up possessions with hard running as well as extracting the ball from packs at times.

Scott Burns, Scott Pendlebury, Tarkyn Lockyer, Ben Johnson and Dale Thomas were also instrumental in the Magpies' gaining control.

Collingwood kicked the first three goals of the third quarter, on the way to kicking 5.5 to 2.5 for the term to take a 13-point lead into the last change.

Leon Davis, who kicked three clever goals to keep his side in touch in the first half, also provided the highlight of the match in the third quarter.

He leapt over Fremantle defender Michael Johnson, taking a one-handed grab while riding on the Docker's back, before goaling from a 45m set shot to cap the play.

Pavlich did not help his side's cause at the other end, kicking 0.3 for the third term.

Rocca, who kicked one goal in each of the first three terms, helped nail the door shut with two goals in the first 13 minutes of the final quarter to set up a three-goal lead.

He marked strongly all night and his accuracy was a welcome change, after he had tallied 17.21 for the season.

Tarrant missed with a 35m set shot three minutes later.

Pavlich threatened to pull the Dockers back into the game with two goals in the final quarter, but missed with a shot from a difficult angle which would have reduced the margin to four points with about a minute to play.

The Dockers, rated as strong premiership contenders before the season, slumped to 4-6 with the loss.

In further bad news, they are likely to lose Ryan Crowley to suspension after he was reported in the second quarter, adding to the club's horrendous disciplinary record this season.

Crowley laid a fierce front-on bump on Collingwood's Simon Prestigiacomo, while the defender had his head over the ball, although Crowley's hip appeared to miss the Magpies' head and connect with his shoulder.

The Magpies had some injury problems, with rebounding defender Heath Shaw limping from the ground with a thigh injury early in the second quarter and not returning.

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