Collingwood have finished Gather Round with a 70–64 win over a fast-finishing St Kilda at the Adelaide Oval.
With the Saints unbeaten prior to the clash and the Magpies 3-1, the game was billed as the match of the round in the lead-up.
Headlines were made before the game with Collingwood star Jordan De Goey a late out with illness as both sides were lacking some of their prime movers.
With a few stars on the sidelines, the game quickly turned into a coaching battle between Ross Lyon and Craig McRae as their different game styles went head-to-head.
That tactical battle saw the clash quickly turn into an arm wrestle as neither side could pull away with scores tied at 14-all at quarter time.
That slog continued into the second term with poor kicking limiting chances for both sides as the likes of Callum Wilkie, Josh Battle, Nathan Murphy and Darcy Moore began to lick their lips as the ball went from intercept to intercept at either end of the ground.
With the Magpies up by one-point heading into the second half, they soon began to work their way on top with dominant field position.
While the ball lived in the Magpies’ front half, they couldn’t break the back of St Kilda until early in the last term with three quick majors to bridge a gap on their opponents.
The game looked all over throughout much of the fourth term until the Saints kicked three quick goals in the dying minutes to give themselves a chance.
With the margin ending up at just six points with the ball inside St Kilda’s forward 50 at the siren, SEN’s Gerard Whateley credited the Saints for throwing everything they had at Collingwood and playing to the final siren.
“Gather Round closes as the Collingwood roar fills the air of the City of Churches,” Whateley said on AFL Nation.
“How they were gasping through that last 50 seconds, the Saints threw the lot at them at the close.
“But they ended up six points short … they surged it for one last look.”
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For the Magpies, young superstar Nick Daicos looked a class above as he broke his single-game disposal record with a prolific 42 and more than 850 metres gained including eight inside 50s, a stat Collingwood won 64-50.
He was well supported by his brother Josh Daicos (30 disposals), Tom Mitchell (one goal, 28 disposals) and Scott Pendlebury (23 disposals), while Nathan Murphy seemed to constantly break up St Kilda’s attacking moves.
For the Saints, Callum Wilkie continued to press his All-Australian claims with 24 disposals and 11 marks, while his defensive partner Josh Battle was also impressive.
While they’ll be happy with their win, Collingwood’s tall stocks took another blow with Daniel McStay subbed out early with a finger tendon issue and he may miss an extended period if he requires surgery.
They’ll next gear up for a huge Anzac Day clash against Essendon where they’ll be buoyed by the likely inclusion of De Goey.
For the Saints, they’ll hope to rebound from their first defeat of the year when they face Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
FULL SCORE
Collingwood: 2.2, 4.4, 6.10, 10.10 (70)
St Kilda: 2.2, 4.3, 6.4, 9.10 (64)
GOALS
Collingwood: Hill 3, Mihocek 2, Johnson, Ginnivan, McCreery, Elliott, Mitchell
St Kilda: Caminiti 2, Higgins 2, Crouch 2, Byrnes, Phillipou, Clark
BEST
Collingwood: Nick Daicos, Nathan Murphy, Josh Daicos, Scott Pendlebury, Bobby Hill
St Kilda: Callum Wilkie, Josh Battle, Brad Crouch, Rowan Marshall
INJURIES
Collingwood: McStay (finger)
St Kilda: