Eagles plucky but fall short of historic upset against Pies
For a half it looked like West Could would produce an upset for the ages, but a miracle at Marvel Stadium was not to be as a professional Collingwood held their nerve to win by 29 points.
The one-win Eagles weren't meant to get close to the ladder-leading Magpies, who went into the game as not only heavy favourites but the team to beat for this year's premiership.
Ladder positions do not outweigh belief once the ball is bounced and for the first half West Coast played inspired football to test Collingwood in way not even the most optimistic of Eagles' fan could have dreamed of.
The Magpies ensured they didn't become the first team in two decades to lead the competition and lose to the bottom side, kicking eight second half goals to two to shake off the brave Eagles and claim a 13.10 (88) to 8.11 (59) victory on Saturday evening.
Plenty of attention was on Collingwood star Nick Daicos (34 disposals, five clearances and a goal) and whether Eagles coach Andrew McQualter would implement a tag on the Brownlow Medal fancy.
And while Brady Hough spent time on Daicos at centre bounces, it was by no means a hard tag as the Eagles preferred to back their team defence to choke the Magpies' ball movement, forcing them to over handball and make mistakes.
Hough himself had arguably his best game since becoming a midfielder earlier this season, finishing with 27 disposals and six clearances.
The former defender was complemented by the spread of Harley Reid (17 disposals and six clearances), Clay Hall (22 disposals) and mid-season draftee Tom McCarthy (29 disposals), who attacked without fear which caught Collingwood off guard. West Coast forward Liam Ryan gets a kick away under pressure. Credit: Morgan Hancock / Getty Images
Recruit Liam Baker (35 disposals and six tackles) led the way with his dash off half-back, his impact noticeable when West Coast were on top in the contest.
While the young Eagles were plucky and proud, they were unable to match the seemingly endless number of stars at Collingwood's disposal.
Josh Daicos (30 disposals) covered the ground effortlessly on a wing, while evergreen veterans Scott Pendlebury (28 disposals, nine clearances and a goal) and Steele Sidebottom (20 disposals and 10 tackles) continued their excellent form.
If the Eagles were going to cause the biggest upset in 20 years, they were going to need the perfect start which they got when Jack Williams waltzed into an unguarded goalsquare for the first major of the day.
Milestone man Brody Mihocek (two goals) responded for Collingwood not long after as he got his 150th game off in style.
West Coast weren't disheartened though and kept confronting the Magpies, forcing errors with intense pressure, giving them no space to get their ball movement going.
The Eagles let themselves down though in front of goal and there was a feeling under the roof that their inaccuracy would come back to haunt them if Collingwood could get their game going.
A late goal from Tyler Brockman (two goals) stunned the crowd as West Coast held the most unlikely of nine-point leads.
Any thoughts that Collingwood were going to allow the Eagles to maintain such a comfortable and surprising ascendency were dashed within three minutes of the second term.
The Magpies won consecutive centre clearances which resulted directly in goals and restored normalcy much to the joy of the pro-Collingwood crowd.
Suddenly Collingwood were bullying the young West Coast, who looked lost for answers to the physicality and spread from the contest of the slick Magpies.
A lot of their dominance was on the back of ruckman Darcy Cameron (20 disposals, 36 hit-outs and nine clearances) who was not only feeding his midfield with elite ruck craft but was moving well around the ground to feed the runners.
West Coast found another gear to not only to stop Collingwood's run of four unanswered goals but responded with four of their own which undoubtedly stunned Collingwood and had them still leading at the main break.
As if the game was on repeat, the home side came out of the break firing, kicking four unanswered goals and look as if they'd finally done enough to break West Coast's spirit.
But again, West Coast held strong and counter-attacked with flair as well as speed, which opened up the Magpies' defence.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, Dan Houston kicked a long-range goal with only one second left in the third term which at the time felt like a big moment in the match. Collingwood's Ned Long battles for the ball with West Coast's Jack Graham. Credit: Michael Willson/AFL Photos / AFL Photos via Getty Images
It would prove to be one of two massive moments either side of the final break.
Charged with leading the forward line in the absence of injured spearheads Oscar Allen and Jake Waterman, Williams had the chance to give the Eagles a valuable goal to start the final term, but his kick drifted away to the left.
It proved pivotal as Lachlan Sullivan hurt the Eagles at the other end to spark the crowd into their traditional 'Collingwood' chant.
A tired West Coast couldn't go with the Magpies in the final term, who walked away victors as expected.
COLLINGWOOD 1.3, 5.5, 10.6, 13.10 (88)
WEST COAST 2.6, 6.7, 8.8, 8.11 (59)
Goals – COLLINGWOOD: P Lipinski 2 B Mihocek 2 T Membrey 2 W Hoskin-Elliott D Houston N Daicos J Elliott S Pendlebury L Sullivan C West. WEST COAST: T Brockman 2 M Flynn B Hough T Kelly L Ryan J Shanahan J Williams
Best – COLLINGWOOD: D Cameron S Pendlebury N Daicos J Daicos S Sidebottom P Lipinski. WEST COAST: L Baker B Hough T McCarthy L Duggan H Reid C Hall.
Injuries – COLLINGWOOD: B Hill (personal) replaced in the selected side by O Markov.
Umpires: B Hosking P Rebeschini H Birch C Jones. Crowd: 38,126 at Marvel Stadium.
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