Round 24 – Essendon v Collingwood: One of the best Friday night walks (Floreat Pica Society)

 

 

 

 

by Linda Ho
for the Floreat Pica Society

 

I usually do not get a chance to watch a Pies men’s game live due to my work hours generally clashing with the game and I often listen in the car on my drive home or watch the 2nd half if it is on TV whilst doing patient notes. Today I was gifted a ticket from a friend who got free tickets from her cousin who works for a company that sponsor the Dons. So I happily took the ticket even though I was going to miss the first quarter.

I was a little nervous volunteering to write a report as my memory of player names (especially the opposition is poor) and I do not have the extensive historical knowledge of the Magpie lore of the many contributors of this encyclopaedic group. But I will do my best to capture my assessment and feelings of the game.

So going into the game we had the chance to cement our top position and win the minor premiership. The Dee’s were completely thrashed by the Giants the week before and they really did not have much to play for today apart from pride and to upstage the Pies. Our dear team have had a topsy-turvy month and tonight was a chance to showcase what we could serve in the finals season.

1st quarter

I was driving into the city from Epping and knew the parking situation near the MCG was going to be a nightmare so ended up parking behind Victoria Parade. It was 750pm and I popped my earbuds in to listen to the first quarter as I walked the 20 minutes to the grounds. I was the only straggler around and it was one of the nicest walks I have had .

GOAL DEGOEY

GOAL GINNIVAN

GOAL CHECKERS

CHECKERS GOALS AGAIN

GOAL PENDLES

GOAL MITCHELL

GOAL ELLIOTT

GOAL GINNIVAN.

Mick Malthouse called it game over and it really was the best Friday night walks I’ve had.

I went to the 7/11 on Wellington Parade to get my dinner of a meat pie and sausage roll and the girl who served me just saw a Collingwood supporter looking smug as a hot pie.

Pies 8.1 Dons 0.2

2nd quarter

I settled into my seat next to my friend and her husband and she was in high spirits as she is also a Pie supporter. Her husband is a Tigers man so he was hoping to see a good match but was disappointed to see the Bombers crashing badly.

Elliott slots a goal and you could see the Reds were irritated and their pride hurt. They started to clog the corridor and upped their aggressive play.

Bobby Hill tries to be too fancy and coughs up the ball a few times in the forward line.

Elliott gets caught holding the ball 30ms out and it appears the umpires called it play on as the Don’s players clear it out. The Bomber fans were upset the free wasn’t called back but their players were the ones who played on. Jaicos gets possession and cool as a cucumber kicks a beautiful goal.

10 straight goals to zip.

Collingwood gets the ball forward again and Lipinski gets a handball feed in the goal square, evades 2 defenders and almost loses the ball but manages to kick a goal. 11 straight!

Finally Weideman goals for the Dons 20 mins into the 2nd quarter. I haven’t been to a Bombers home game before but I had to laugh when the lights dimmed and some edgy music and pumping lights flashed to highlight the goal. For something that should be a celebration it felt quite ominous to me and I didn’t think it added effective energy to the game but hey who am I to judge. (Luckily they did not score much so this novelty did not annoy me too often).

Soon after Langford kicks another one from some sloppy Pies defending and they get two in a row.

Some Bomber fans start to rally in the crowd but in the last minute Checkers nabs a nice mark and adds a 12th goal for the Pies before the half time break.

Pies 12.2 Dons 2.4

3rd quarter

This was one of the worst quarters I have witnessed.

Both sides played terribly. Poor ball handling. Missed chest marks. Multiple shanks of the ball. Off target,  off line, everything was off. The Auskick kids were more accurate and entertaining during the half time break.

The Reds decide to niggle Ginnivan and he was quite happy to give it to them back. A posturing, chest bumping, mini scuffle erupts and the umpires just ignore it and play went on.

The Bombers kicked 3 points which were all gettable. They were getting the ball in the forward line but could not get it between the sticks.

Bobby Hill finally gets the ball cleanly and runs forward to kick a nice goal. No theatrics, no high jumping, no weaving, just a nice simple goal.

The Bombers then proceed to score another 3 points. The Maggie fans in the area I was seated were all stunned at how the Bombers were gifting us the 3rd quarter. No matter where they were kicking from, they just could not hit the mark. There was even a poster to add to injury.

The quarter felt very long and everyone was ready to reset for the final quarter. But in the last minute the ball surges into the Pies forward line and Ginnivan gets onto the end of it but gets an awful high tackle from Redman who then proceeds to slam his fist into Ginnivans face. Boos erupt and a free was duly rewarded. It is still not ok that he keeps getting targeted by opposition players in this manner. But the kid has steel and slots a lovely goal to cement the 3rd quarter and we manage to outscore the Bombers 2.1 to their inaccurate 6 points. (l watched the highlight reel and Fly was seen fists pumping in the air that Ginnivan finally gets a deserving free)

Pies 14.3 Bombers 2.10

4th quarter

The crowd were already celebrating the minor premiership. The way the Bombers were playing there really was no chance they could kick 12 goals to win.

We were so relaxed that we did not even have a chance to react to a brilliant goal by McStay within the first 30seconds of the ball being bounced. The video referee was called for a review to make sure it had been off the Pie boot. How a goal umpire who has 1st row VIP views of the shot could not call it bewilders me.

Weideman manages to snag a goal and the Bombers try to up the ante and not be too embarrassed. But again their radar was truly malfunctioning and they kick another 3 points in a row to completely snuff out any chance of denting our good percentage boost. The disastrous missed goal where Howe pressured their player (I’ve forgotten his name) who was kicking straight from the goal square and shanked it for a point was just a sitcom moment and the Bombers were done. All their hard work bringing the ball forward to just get successive points was sad to see.

My section of the crowd were done watching as the players seemed to start playing kick to kick to avoid any injuries and there was an attempt to get a Mexican wave going but it only lasted for one section. I am sure the players were confused about some random boos happening in the crowd but it was due to a Mexican wave falling limp.

In the final minutes the Pies manage to bring the ball forward again and there seemed to be an attempt to help Cox get a goal but ends up in Cameron’s hands and he snaps and slots it through. Again the video referee is called upon as the umpire was unsure if it was touched. We were sitting on level 4 above the goals and could tell it was over the line so have no idea how the goal umpires were not seeing it.

The Collingwood chant begins and the final siren blasts and the boys did it!

Pies 16.5 Bombers 3.13

Thoughts

What a first quarter! High pressure, high quality,  committed and connected team play and remarkable scoring accuracy with a bag of players scoring. If we can bring that level for 4 quarters then we have to be favourites for the flag.

Essendon played terrible and were inaccurate. If they had been more accurate and all the successive points were goals, then it would have been interesting to see how Collingwood would have responded because we did not play well for the last 3 quarters. I am not sure if Essendon playing badly brought our quality down or whether we have a problem with being too far out in front. It seems once we are 10 goals in front we lower the pressure and start feeling bad for the opposition. We need the team to be a little more assassin-like and go for the throat. But let’s hope that’s to come in the finals.

Whilst the Bombers kicked 13 points we managed 16 sharp shooting goals and scored over 100 (we have scored over 100 3 weeks in a row!) It is a great sign to see us scoring well and having 11 goals scorers for the game.

I am having a little trouble singling out 3 players as outstanding. We had a fantastic team spread in the first quarter. The last 3 quarters were not a great spectacle but we played well enough to give the Bombers the wobbles and the defenders should be commended for getting in their heads with their backline pressure. Howe in defence should probably remain but will see if he stays there when Captain Moore returns. The coaching team got it right today and the combination of Cox and Cameron seems to be a good set up for our ruck situation.

The midfield looks so much better with JDG in it and Mitchell plays better with him.

What a great way to end the Home and Away season. I picked the team to come first this year and am thrilled we get the minor premiership as they really have deserved it despite a handful of poor games. We can now relax and enjoy this weekend and it is going to be so interesting to see how the rest of the 7 spots of the top 8 play out.

Good ol Collingwood forever!

==

ESSENDON            0.2     2.4     2.10    3.13 (31)
COLLINGWOOD
   8.1     12.2    14.3    16.5 (101) 

GOALS
Essendon: Weideman 2, Langford
Collingwood: Ginnivan 3, Mihocek 3, Elliott 2, Cameron, Daicos, De Goey, Hill, Lipinski, McStay, Mitchell, Pendlebury

INJURIES
Essendon: Kaine Baldwin (concussion)
Collingwood: Jamie Elliott (corked quad)

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: 
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (replaced Kaine Baldwin in the first quarter)
Collingwood: 
Fin Macrae (replaced Jamie Elliott at half-time)

Crowd: 74,344 at the MCG

==

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Comments

  1. Jim Kesselschmidt says

    Now that was a walk Linda. As others have implored you, please take the same walk during the finals. Great read. Thanks.

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