COLLINGWOOD reacted in the manner of a good side to last week’s Anzac Day disappointment when it hammered North Melbourne by 52 points at Docklands on Friday night.

Apart from a brief period in the first quarter, the Magpies dominated the contest, the opposition and the scoreboard to win 19.13 (127) to 11.9 (75) in front of 40,087 fans.

Led by the midfield brilliance of Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan, a workmanlike defensive effort and four goals to Tarkyn Lockyer, who won the Jason McCartney Medal for best afield, the Magpies blew the game wide open with an eight-goal to three second term before cruising to the easiest of victories.

Without skipper Brent Harvey and key playmakers Daniel Wells and Matt Campbell, the Roos found the going tough against a Magpie outfit desperate to atone for last week’s loss to Essendon.

Collingwood got rolling early with the games first three goals inside 13 minutes as its midfield, led by Pendlebury, Swan and Leon Davis dominated the contest.

However, just when it looked how far the Pies, the Roos rallied.

With Paul Medhurst limping from the ground with an ankle injury, Roo forward Drew Petrie produced an amazing act of brilliance to help steady his rattled outfit.

Running back with the flight of the ball to get on the end of a Leigh Harding long bomb, Petrie volleyed the ball out of mid-air, and around the corner from the goal square, to kick his side’s first goal in amazing fashion.

Inspired, his teammates rallied. Goals to Aaron Edwards, Lindsay Thomas and Harding followed to snatch the unlikeliest of leads, given the Magpies’ domination early in the match.

Only a John Anthony trademark set shot wrested back the lead at the first change.

As in the first term, the Pies jumped out of the blocks to start the second.

Four goals in the opening eight minutes, including a brilliant running effort from Anthony Corrie, had the margin out to 29 points in the blink of an eye.

Try as they did, the Roos simply lacked the presence and class to go with the Pies who kicked eight goals for the term to lead by 36 points at the main change.

Pendlebury and Swan gathered 36 first-half possessions between them to do most of the damage, while Lockyer, Medhurst, who returned with his ankle heavily strapped, and Anthony shared six goals to finish off the midfield work.

The Roos’ only ray of light came from Edwards who made the most of limited opportunities up forward to kick three second-quarter goals and four for the half to at least give his side some hope.

But, with Daniel Pratt gone for the night after limping off with a knee injury, it was always going to be a tough task to reel in a rampant Magpie outfit.

An early snapped goal to Corrie and a fourth to the lively Lockyer ended the match as a contest, leaving the final margin the only question for Pie fans sensing a kill.

In the end it wasn’t as savage as some might have expected as the Roos, in typical fashion, gutsed it out.

While well beaten, the Roos took some consolation from the efforts of youngsters Andrew Swallow, Ben Warren, Gavin Urquhart and Ziebell who never stopped battling, while Edwards’ four-goal first half was noteworthy given the opposition’s dominance.

But with just 47 goals from its last five matches, the North Melbourne forward line’s productivity remains a major concern.

Lindsay Thomas and David Hale kicked just one goal between them while Petrie managed 1.2 in a disappointing night.

North Melbourne  4.1  7.2  8.6  11.9 (75)
Collingwood  4.6  12.8  15.11  19.13 (127)


GOALS
North Melbourne:
Edwards 4, McIntosh 2, Thomas, Petrie, Harding, Firrito, Warren.
Collingwood: 
Lockyer 4, Cloke 2, Corrie 2, Anthony 2, Davis 2, Wellingham, Maxwell, Medhurst, Brown, Macaffer, Thomas, Swan.

BEST
North Melbourne: 
Simpson, Urquhart, Ziebell, Firrito, Swallow.
Collingwood:
  Lockyer, Davis, Swan, Pendlebury, Fraser, Medhurst.

INJURIES
North Melbourne:
Pratt (knee).
Collingwood:
Medhurst (ankle), N. Brown (leg), Rocca (ankle) replaced in selected side by Wellingham, Shaw (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Corrie.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: James, Schmitt, Meredith
Official crowd: 40,087 at Docklands

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.