Collingwood vs Fremantle: Match Review
In what was its best and most couragous matches for the season, Collingwood defeated the Fremantle Dockers by 33 points. Collingwood now have some momentum behind them, and will come home with a wet sail. Fremanlte, on the other hand, willl now struggle to make the eight, with their run home a tough one. Johnson, Lockyer, Davis and Woewodin were the Pies best, as they kept their finals dreams alive.
The first quarter belonged to Collingwood, but they couldn't find the goals to capitalise on their good efforts. They peppered the goals but to no avail, as they kicked three goals and nine points for the quarter. After Troy Simmonds scored the first goal of the evening, it was all Collingwood, as Leon Davis snapped one out of the pack, Ryan Lonie goaled from a mark and Paul Licuria bent one of the goals on the night around his body to see the Pies to a 14 point quarter time lead. Shane O'Bree was magnificent all quarter, racking up nine possessions, with Licuria and Davis were solid.
The second term was a titanic struggle, with both sides driving the ball inside the fifty, only to see it come straight back over their heads. Both defences stood up manfuly, in a great display of harrd and attacking football. Nick Maxwell and James Clement, who was playing with a broken jaw, were couragous in defence in holding the Dockers at bay. With the help of Ben Johnson and Tarkyn Lockyer's run, the Pies were able to hold onto thier solid lead. And when David King scored the only goal of the quarter, Collingwood skipped out to a 21 point half time lead. Johnson, Woewodin and Davis were all prominant, while Josh Fraser battled well against Justin Longmuir in the ruck.
The third quarter saw both sides break the deadlock, in going goal-for-goal in an exciting exibition of AFL football. Leon Davis goaled in the first minute after a couragous mark, against two Dockers. But Andrew Browne answered for Fremantle with a great goal from the bounce. But then Chris Tarrant, on the end of a long line of good grabs, marked and goaled from a tight angle and King put one through from some good work from Davis the Pies were out to the greatest lead of the night. Although Jeff Farmer dobbed one for Freo, Shane O'Bree, in possibly his best outing for the season, ran onto a loose ball from a stoppage and goaled on the left, Collingwood looked certain to record a comfortable victory. Then Burns and Leon Davis goaled, giving the Pies an even bigger advantage. However, the Dockers, through Simmonds and Des Headland scored six pointers to cut the lead back to a 27 point Magpie lead at the final change. Tarrant, Woewodin, Davis, Burns, Buckley and Lockyer led a long line of star Magpie performers, who consistantly drove the ball forward.
The final term opened with a quick goal to Fremantle's Justin Longmuir, who was starting to get away from the grasp of Josh Fraser. The Dockers were beginning to look dangerous every time they entered the forward fifty. But Collingwood again answered the challenge, when David King, who is beginning to cement his position in the side, snapped one over his head in a freakish piece of play. But Fremantle again hit back through Paul Medhurst, who had been kept in check by Nick Maxwell all night, who marked and goaled on the run to keep the Dockers within range. And after Dylan Smith and Andrew Browne put through majors to get within 14 points, the game was in the balence. But three goals to Brodie Holland, Tarkyn Lockyer and Shane Woewodin iced a great game by the Magpies, who ran out 33 point winners.
Player Review:
Leon Davis: 8.5/10 - Easily his best match in his entire five season carrer. He dominated from start to finish, and will be pleased with his three goal effort.
Shane Woewodin: 7/10 - Very good match from Woey, who blanketed Pavlich from start to finish. His tackling was first rate and his courage stood up to the challenge. Scored a nice goal on the siron to ice the cake.
Ryan Lonie: 4.5/10 - Very good early and was a constant threat for all of the first term. But was followed by Grover after that and his influence was lessened.
Nathan Buckley: 7/10 - Very good effort fromt he champ. 25 possesions from a great captains game. Will be pleased with his efforts.
Brodie Holland: 5/10 - Held Haselby in check for most of the night before he let loose late in the piece.
James Clement: 8/10 - The Mr.Cool of the team was just that again - Mr.Cool. A fabulous effort with a broken jaw and stood up for his younger team mates. Will easily win All-Australian status after that.
Shane O'Bree: 7/10 - A great effort by O'Bree, with nine touches in the first quarter alone. A good return to form, and with form like this may save his spot for the rest of the year and beyond.
Steven McKee: 2/10 - OK around the ground but struggled against Sandilands.
Richard Cole: 4/10 - Good on Farmer, but let him slip away at times. Always backs himself.
Scott Burns: 7/10 - Playing in an unfamiller position, Burns was great, playing the forward line role similar to Rupert Betheras in 2002 - hard and tough, locking it in. One of the best players at Collingwood in the apst 25 years.
Paul Licuria: 6.5/10 - Very good from start to finish and inspired his side. Will definitly get a top 4 placing in the Copeland Trophy.
Chris Tarrant: 5.5/10 - Solid, if unspectacular return to the seniors. Didn't do much but when he did it was special.
Rhyce Shaw: 4/10 - Tried very hard but made some costly errors. Needs to improve his disposal by foot.
Tarkyn Lockyer: 6.5/10 - Great work all night in defence and the midfield. Running into some of his best form since his knee injury.
Josh Fraser: 6/10 - Very good all evening, battling well against the Docker talls. Showed great pace and skil, when he charged from the middle.
Ben Johnson: 7.5/10 - Yet another great game by Jonno. His pace, courage and ever improving skills were on display and will definitly feature in the Copeland placings.
Matthew Lokan: 1.5/10 - Didn't do anything of note except for a costly mistake with gave up a goal at the end of the thrid quarter.
David King: 5.5/10 - Great game from Kingy, who shows a great tendancy to know where the goals are. 3 goals was a great return.
Tristan Walker: 5/10 - Solid effort from Tex, who marked well and is showing some good accountability.
Julian Rowe: 2/10 - Didn't do much excpet for a great tacklewhen he came off a bench.
Nick Maxwell: 7/10 - His best game yet for the club. Great skill and run, mixed with courage. A certant starter for next season.
Justin Crow: 3/10 - Did some nice things, with a few good marks and kicks. Will get a spot for 2005.
Collingwood vs Fremantle: Match Review
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