AFL Round 21 Collingwood v Carlton: All the news and analysis as the Pies hang on in Scott Pendlebury’s 400th
Early in the final term, Collingwood looked as if it would cruise to victory in Scott Pendlebury’s 400th game – but then Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh stepped it. And it all came down to one Mitch McGovern kick.
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Mitch McGovern had spoilt a Collingwood party once before, but he couldn’t ruin Scott Pendlebury’s historic night as his post-siren shot missed right and the Magpies reignited their season.
Pendlebury was fittingly among the Magpies’ best in his 400th game and one of few who kept on going in a dramatic final quarter as the Blues stormed back from 32 points down early in the final term.
With 30 seconds remaining, Marc Pittonet grabbed the ball out of the ruck from a boundary throw-in on the wing and heaved the ball inside 50 where McGovern slid in to mark the ball on his chest.
But the man who drew a game for Adelaide against the Magpies in 2017 could not repeat his feat from 40m out on a slight angle, leaving the Blues reeling with four losses from their last five games.
Carlton will now face a bitter fight against Hawthorn next week to keep its finals bid on track as the Magpies pulled themselves to within one game of the top eight.
Blues coach Michael Voss claimed the loss was a “step in the right direction” despite giving up nine goals to the Magpies in the second and third quarters, but conceded the Blues were now walking a tightrope.
“Time says (it’s tight), and the games left says that. For us, everything is urgent, and what we’ll do though is we’ll stay composed,” he said post-match.
“I thought tonight was a step in the right direction. We understand we’re not completely ‘back’ … total connection, if you want to call it that.
“But the good thing about it is it’s completely in our control. We’ve got our next opponent, we’ll play them as hard as we possibly can.”
Jordan De Goey is unlikely to be part of the Magpies’ late charge though after he ended the game on crutches following a hamstring injury in the third term.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirmed De Goey’s season was likely over with a suspected high-grade hamstring tear.
Carlton has a raft of injury concerns of its own, with Charlie Curnow desperately trying to play on after a nasty ankle roll midway through the last quarter.
Adam Cerra and Matt Cottrell are also set to be sidelined as the Blues face Hawthorn, West Coast and St Kilda with their season surprisingly on the line.
Carlton trailed by 32 points early in the final term after Jamie Elliott snapped a goal out of a stoppage.
“We’ll see how (Curnow) pulls up, but he was able to come back on the ground so at least that’s a positive sign,” Voss said.
“I probably need to go back (to see whether he was struggling on the field) … there was a lot going on at that particular time and we certainly got lots of looks (inside 50).
“When you’ve got numbers like that and they’re sort of all jumping up and crashing into one another, it was pretty hard to track.”
HAMSTRUNG BLUE’S NIGHTMARE
Adam Cerra had only been back for a month from his fourth hamstring tear in two seasons when he suffered a fifth before halftime.
The Blues had been easing Cerra back into senior football at halfback but he returned to the midfield against the Pies only to suffer another familiar blow.
He’s still only 24 years old and has time on his side, but the Blues will be scratching their heads with how to get Cerra’s conditioning right and his path back into the senior side before the end of this campaign looks murky.
PIES’ NARROW SUB ESCAPE
Some quick-thinking administrative work helped Collingwood avoid going a man down in the final term when De Goey limped from the field with his hamstring injury.
The Magpies had already filled out the paperwork to sub off Ned Long when the De Goey injury sent their interchange stewards scrambling, according to ABC Sport boundary rider Rory Campbell.
Fortunately for the Pies, the process wasn’t too far down the road that they couldn’t yank the paperwork back before the move was confirmed.
Carlton was already one down on the bench after losing Matt Cottrell to a shoulder injury shortly after Cerra was withdrawn from the game.
TOO MANY COOKS
We’re approaching the end of the second season of four field umpires and the jury remains out on whether it has improved the quality of decision-making.
With an umpire on either side of him, Mason Cox leapt for a mark midway through the second term but had the ball knocked out of his hands cleanly by Mitch McGovern.
As Cox remonstrated, the officiating umpire waved play-on, but his colleague on the boundary side of the contest decided the Pies tall had held the ball long enough and paid him the mark – it continues to frustrate fans, and probably umpires themselves, that play-on calls are so easily overruled.
Scoreboard
MAGPIES 2.2, 6.6, 11.9, 12.12 (84)
BLUES 1.8, 3.11, 6.14, 11.15 (81)
BOURKE’S BEST Magpies: Pendlebury, N Daicos, Hoskin-Elliott, Cameron, J Daicos, Moore. Blues: Cripps, Hewett, McGovern, E Hollands, Newman, Weitering.
GOALS Magpies: De Goey 2, Cox 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, N Daicos, McStay, Crisp, Hill, Schultz, Elliott. Blues: Fogarty 2, E Hollands 2, Martin 2, McKay, Cripps, Owies, Acres, O Hollands.
UMPIRES Findlay, Fleer, Foot, Gavine
INJURIES Magpies: De Goey (hamstring). Blues: Cerra (hamstring), Cottrell (shoulder), Curnow (ankle).
CROWD 86,879 at the MCG
BOURKE’S VOTES
3. Patrick Cripps (Carl)
2. Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
1. Nick Daicos (Coll)
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Originally published as AFL Round 21 Collingwood v Carlton: All the news and analysis as the Pies hang on in Scott Pendlebury’s 400th
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