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#FreeKickCollingwood: Essendon fans fume over free kick count as Pies down Dons
ANGRY Essendon fans have take to Twitter to vent their frustration at a lopsided freekick count in the Bombers’ 16-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG today.
ANGRY Essendon fans have take to Twitter to vent their frustration at a lopsided freekick count in the Bombers’ 16-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG today.
RE-CAP ALL THE ROUND 16 ACTION IN OUR BLOG BELOW The Pies and Dons went back and forth throughout the match, but Collingwood had too much class when it mattered most, booting four of the last five goals in the 12.7 (78) to 9.8 (62) win. TOUGH RUN: CAN COLLINGWOOD WIN PREMIERSHIP? NORTH WHACKS SUNS: WILL IT BE GC OR BLUES FOR SPOON? NICNAT, GAFF STAR: EAGLES OUTLAST GWS IN PERTH The freekick disparity was 18-8 at half-time leading fans into a social media frenzy. When the final siren sounded, the Pies had a seventh straight win, but Bombers fans lamented the 27-17 freekick discrepancy (10-10 after the half-time break). Earlier, North Melbourne belted Gold Coast, while the West Coast defeated GWS by 11 points in Perth. Back at the MCG and in a match against a traditional rival that was never going to be easy, the Pies had to figure out how to replace defensive rock Lynden Dunn after his season-ending injury. And coach Nathan Buckley backed his men in. Matthew Scharenberg was the mainstay, taking Essendon’s key tall Shaun McKernan. Jeremy Howe, Jack Crisp, Brayden Maynard, Tom Langdon and Flynn Appleby were the other mainstays. Levi Greenwood had stints down back too, but Buckley stuck with his tried and true. They hustled and supported each other. At one stage Howe left his man to move up onto half back, so Appleby dropped back to cover, the system was still working without Dunn. “We obviously knew that Essendon weren’t overly big down forward,” Howe said. “We backed Shaz in to play on McKernan, we felt like we could go in with a bit more of a hybrid, mid-sized backline. “Although we did get a couple of one v ones against in our def-50 and they kicked a couple of goals, we’re going to continue to back our system in. “We’ve got guys who have the ability to play tall and small.” When McKernan looked like he was about to get off the chain as he kicked his second and had a chance to kick his third, Buckley didn’t opt for his Plan B and instead stuck with his young emerging star. The Magpies were getting players back too. Wingman Chris Mayne made contests and filled holes, Brodie Grundy was crucial in one play, clearing through Jordan De Goey. Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury were down there setting up the attacking plays. Mason Cox took two important marks deep in defence in the third term. His second allowed Jack Crisp to stream through the centre, baulking Brendon Goddard on his way to delivering a beautiful ball to De Goey. At the other end Essendon had Michael Hurley. He was imposing when he appeared at halfback to cut off an attack and had five marks and 15 disposals to half time. It was only De Goey who showed him up, muscling him out of a contest to kick a crucial goal late in the third. But it is going to be a hard slog without Dunn against West Coast, with Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy a chance to return. And there are more headaches down back for the Magpies with Appleby set for about a month on the sidelines with a right hamstring injury. Buckley will have to come up with a solution next week. It could be Darcy Moore. SCOREBOARD ESSENDON 1.2 4.5 7.6 9.8 (62) COLLINGWOOD 4.1 4.4 7.5 12.6 (78) GOALS Essendon: Brown 3, McKernan 2, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Langford, Baguley, McGrath Collingwood: De Goey 3, Sidebottom 2, Stephenson, Grundy, Daicos, Hoskin-Elliott, Mihocek, Cox, Adams BEST — JAY CLARK Essendon: Zach Merrett, Devon Smith, Shaun McKernan, Dyson Heppell, Brendon Goddard, Mitch Brown, Andrew McGrath Collingwood: Scott Pendlebury, Jordan De Goey, Steele Sidebottom, Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Jack Crisp, Tom Langdon INJURIES Essendon: Orazio Fantasia (groin) late out, replaced in selected side by Jake Long, Patrick Ambrose (hamstring), Dyson Heppell (eye) Collingwood: Will Hoskin-Elliott (knee), Flynn Appleby (hamstring) Reports: Nil Official crowd: 69,868 Collingwood press conference Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >
Originally published as #FreeKickCollingwood: Essendon fans fume over free kick count as Pies down Dons