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Round 3 – Sydney v Collingwood: An away win for the ages (Written for the Floreat Pica Society)

 

4:00am and it was rise and shine, off to Sydney we go. We were greeted at the Tiger check in (surprisingly no delays!) by an older lady who told us how much she spited the mighty black and white. Sure enough we were put through our paces and examined for explosives. You can never trust a traveling Pies fan, hey. After the “All clear, confirm goal” it was ready, set, jet. We spent our day around the harbour soaking up the pleasant conditions wearing our colours with pride despite the shaky start to the season.

 

Eventually the time came to head to the ground and after a bus – train – bus we arrived to the sight of the SCG floodlights illuminating the venue and made our way to our seats. The boys seemed to have a certain swagger about them in our pre game warm up. Franklin looked daunting and strutted about but the boys in the stripes did not looked fazed, leaving the ground as one, ready to go to war.

 

I must say we are very optimistic fans Hayden and I, however tonight we had a feeling, this was Buckley’s chance to escape the media spot light for a few weeks with an undermanned Swans outfit and with critics to answer. 

 

First quarter was underway and right from the siren we looked a better team. Greenwood and Varcoe immediately giving us grunt at stoppages all over the ground and Hoskin-Elliot licking his lips with freedom and run on the wing. 23 inside 50’s to 2 for a 28-7 lead at the break… Not enough but we will take 4 goals 4 (The Faz with 3!), over our recent goal kicking attempts. Buckle up boys, let’s keep it going in the second term! 

 

The second quarter saw the Swans wrestle back some momentum through Kennedy and co. Despite this, we still looked the better side with Sydney simply unable to penetrate our defense. We traded goals in a heated affair but Kieran Jack snagged 2 late ones to make it a 9 point ball game. What did Buckley have install for his halftime rev up? 

 

It was more of the same in the 3rd quarter and it had the stadium on the edge of there seats. Our pressure was immense! I was extremely impressed with the return of Levi ‘The Pig’ Greenwood and his intent throughout the game. We gifted Sydney a few golden chances through crazy kicks in board inside our own defensive 50 however at the sound of the 3 quarter time siren the margin remained the same after both sides kicked 2.4. 

 

Hayden turned to me at the start of the 4th and said “Who wants it more?”. We were about to witness Buckley’s boys pull off a remarkable scalp. The last quarter had it all. A trademark Jesse White miss when it counted along with shots from the Faz and Levi that you’d pencil in 9 times out of 10. It was stressful, it had turnovers and the home crowd began to find voice. The Swans hit the front and I sat back in my seat contemplating our missed set shots. Goldsack took a kick in with the Swans in front by a point and the noise from the fans in the members pavilion behind the goals was deafening. The ball made its way up the wing and into the hands of Hoskin-Elliot who is fast becoming a fan favorite. Hard up against the boundary line 50 from goal not many thought he’d send it straight over the umpires hat! To the delight of the traveling fans he did and from then on the intensity rose again. We snagged 2 very handy points which had us up by 7 points before Sydney when the length of the ground to bring it back to 1 point… The ball returned to the centre of the ground and it was absolute desperation from both sides. I had my sister constantly texting me how long was left as the ball loomed dangerously close to Sydney’s goals…. 

 

SIREN! First win of the season! How sweet it is… Good old Collingwood forever… 

 

It definitely wasn’t a night for tall forwards with the Reid/Franklin and White/Moore combinations kicking a combined 2 goals for the evening. I was wrapped with our tackle count and our slick ball use which was noticeably better than the first 2 rounds in the opening quarter. Mayne could struggle to tie down a spot with Elliot primed to return to the seniors in the coming weeks. Overall it was a great night and there’s no better feeling than winning away from home. 

 

Buckley played down the win in his post match press conference but he is sure to be relieved. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come. 

 

Hope you fellow Floreat Picas enjoyed the read. 

 

Until next time, 

 

GO PIES! 

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