Friday night thriller: Pies snatch victory from Tigers’ jaws

COLLINGWOOD   2.1   3.3   7.6   13.9   (87)
RICHMOND      2.2   3.8   7.12 12.14  (86)

BY MATTHEW BALMER

Collingwood has secured its first win of season 2016, defeating Richmond by one point on Friday night at the MCG.

With 19 seconds remaining, Tigers defender Nick Vlastuin was called for a deliberate out of bounds, allowing Darcy Moore to propel the ball deep inside Collingwood’s forward 50. Pies ruckman Brodie Grundy roved the pack brilliantly to bang the goal home to snatch the victory with four seconds remaining on the clock.

Pies forward Alex Fasolo kicked a career-high six goals in a best-on-ground performance, including five second half goals as Richmond were unable to curb his influence.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was pleased with Fasolo’s effort after honing his goal-scoring prowess in the VFL in 2015.

“We know he’s a natural forward … He went back and played four to five weeks in the VFL and then coming back he just adjusted his perspective. He’s a better teammate than he’s been before,” Buckley said in a post-match press conference.

“All credit to him, it takes courage to do that.”

The match seesawed early in the final term before Jack Riewoldt kicked two goals in a row to take the margin out to double figures in the Tigers’ favour. But Fasolo continued his strong showing, kicking two goals in five minutes before Grundy kicked the sealer.

Much had been made about Travis Cloke’s quiet first game against the Swans last weekend, where he collected seven disposals and went goalless. Pre-game, former Collingwood premiership captain Tony Shaw set an ultimatum in the wake of Cloke’s shaky form.

“If Travis Cloke has another shocker tonight, he’s gotta go back to the reserves,” Shaw said on 3AW.

Cloke had yet another quiet night, but kicked a pivotal goal in the final quarter to end the game with one goal and three behinds.

Earlier, a dull first half of footy saw just six goals kicked between the two sides. Debutant Jayden Short had two for the Tigers, who were wasteful in front of goal as they notched up eight minor scores.

Pies captain Scott Pendlebury was left largely alone to play freely across half-back, collecting 16 disposals in the first half. Pendlebury was well contained in the second half and finished the match with 26 disposals, visibly inhibited by a rib injury sustained in Collingwood’s loss to Sydney.

The Tigers also lost important defender Dylan Grimes on the stroke of quarter time with a hamstring injury. Grimes’ playing career has been interrupted by numerous hamstring injuries, including serious hamstring injuries in 2011 and 2012 where he only played 18 of a possible 44 games.

After half-time the game started to reflect the intensity and standard seen across most games during Round 1. Nineteen goals were scored in the second half as the lead changed hands multiple times.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was disappointed with his team’s effort in a match they should have won.

“That’s the brutal nature of footy … We played some unintelligent footy towards the end,” Hardwick said following the Tigers’ loss.

“It’s a tough game, but Collingwood had some blokes out, we had some blokes out. I still thought we had enough players to win the game, but that’s the nature of the game.

“At some stage a majority of sides will go through it. Ours is now so we’ve got to battle and hang tough and get four points back on.”

New Pies recruit Adam Treloar collected a team-high 32 disposals, including seven clearances and eight inside-50s. Treloar has proven a great recruit for the Pies since joining the club in the off-season, backing up his strong 34-disposal effort against the Swans in Round 1.

Tigers captain Trent Cotchin was the leading disposal winner for the match with 38 and eight clearances. Defender Bachar Houli was also integral to the Tigers, orchestrating many Richmond rebounds from defence before setting their ball movement up forward. Houli took eight marks and was one of the Tigers’ better players for the night.

Another positive for the Tigers was the debut of small forward Jayden Short who was promoted off the Rookie list on Thursday. Short kicked three goals and crumbed the ball well inside forward 50.

With the Pies finally on the winners’ board, they will be looking to continue their streak facing St Kilda at the MCG in Round 3. The Tigers will look to avenge this week’s loss and play the Adelaide Crows at Etihad on Saturday afternoon.

WRAP-UP

GOALS
COLLINGWOOD: Fasolo 5; Grundy 2; Moore; De Goey; Langdon; Cloke; Aish
RICHMOND: Short 3; Riewoldt 3; Lambert 2; Vickery 2; Martin; Lloyd

BEST
COLLINGWOOD: Fasolo, Treloar, Pendlebury, Adams, Ramsey, Grundy
RICHMOND: Houli, Martin, Cotchin, Lambert, Riewoldt, Short

INJURIES
COLLINGWOOD: None
RICHMOND: Grimes (hamstring), Short (collarbone), Grigg (ankle), Astbury (hand)

REPORTS
COLLINGWOOD: None
RICHMOND: Vlastuin & Townsend (rough conduct)

UMPIRES: Nick Foot, Luke Farmer, Brett Rosebury

OFFICIAL CROWD: 72,761 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground