2005_07_01 - Collingwood vs Port Adelaide (22 images)
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Pies grind out win over Port

By Sam Lienert of The Age
July 2, 2005

A tenacious game from Collingwood midfielder Shane O'Bree helped the Magpies grind out a 31-point AFL win over a woefully inaccurate Port Adelaide at Telstra Dome tonight.

The Magpies led at every change, in a match that was a defensive arm wrestle in the first half, but opened up in the second, with Collingwood winning 14.18 (102) to 9.17 (71)

O'Bree was a hard-worker around the packs for the Magpies, gathering 30 possessions on a night when most of them had to be won in close as there were plenty of disposal errors and few free-flowing passages of play.

Collingwood's defence also deserved plenty of the credit, with Neil Maxwell, Shane Wakelin, Simon Prestigiacomo, Dane Swan and James Clement all taking a heap of marks and preventing the Power tall forwards from having any impact.

Port lined up with Warren Tredrea and ruckmen Matthew Primus and Brendon Lade all in attack, in a forward set-up that looked likely to pose problems for the Pies, but instead the Magpie defenders dominated.

The Port midfielders did not do their forwards any favours though, with dreadful kicking into attack, and when the Power did win possession in attack it ruined its chances with some incredibly bad misses from shots on goal.

Collingwood had its own problems in attack, kicking just 5.10 in the first half, although that was enough to give it a 19-point half-time lead.

Star forward Chris Tarrant had a poor night, his only goal coming from a free kick just before half-time.

It was left to midfielder Brodie Holland to snare three goals to be the game's top goal-scorer, two of them coming in the final quarter to seal the match.

Holland was also one of the Magpies' best performers in the centre.

Alan Didak kicked two goals in four minutes early in the third term, adding a badly needed touch of class to the match.

Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams completely revamped his side's forward set-up after half-time, with Brendon Lade and Dean Brogan on the bench and an array of speedy small men in attack.

Shaun and Peter Burgoyne shared the forward line with Stuart Dew, while Gavin Wanganeen and Byron Pickett flanked Tredrea at half-forward.

The desperate ploy worked to an extent, with Port kicking seven goals after half-time, compared to two in the first half.

But the Power still let itself down with bad misses at crucial moments, with two standout shockers in the third term - Gavin Wanganeen hooking a shot from five metres out to just scrape in for a behind and Shaun Burgoyne blowing a chance running into an open goal from 15 metres.

The final nail came 20 minutes in the last term, when Tredrea missed a set shot from 20 metres out dead in front, with the ball carried to the other end, where Magpies youngster Chris Egan took a high-flying mark in the goal-square to put the home side up by four goals.

Tredrea eventually posted a major when it was too late, 22 minutes into the last term, a scrambled snap from the goal-square to finish with 1.3 for the night.

The one sour note for the Pies was the report of Scott Burns in the third term, for a high bump on Pickett when Pickett was crouching over to pick up the ball from the ground.

Pickett did not seem to regard the contact too seriously, however, giving Burns a friendly pat on the head immediately after.