Coburg suffered a 28 point defeat at the hands of Collingwood at Victoria Park on Sunday. The match saw Collingwood ultimately win a lot more uncontested posession, and their superior efficiency with ball in hand was a big factor in the win.
From the first bounce it was clear that this was a game in which the team who managed to use the ball more cleanly, and get to the ball first would go a long way towards coming out on top. The conditions were blustery and slippery, making it hard for players to hold their feet, and throwing up some dubious passes by foot. Collingwood just had the better of the first term, which was filled with stoppages and not a lot of smooth play or run and carry. They managed to kick 5 goals for the term to Coburg's 2, which was a fairly good result for the Tigers considering the amount of time spent in Collingwood's forward half. Andrew Krakouer helped give the acendancy to the home side, seemingly beng a class above in the difficult conditions, and winning a stack of the ball. McDonough contnued his impressive season to date kicking one of Coburg's goals for the quarter, with AFL regular Luke McGuane kicking the other.
Coburg showed vast improvement in the second quarter, managing to win a lot more ball through the likes of Sam Lonergan, Robin Nahas and Matt Arnott. As the game tightened, there was a clear rise in both teams aggressiveness which resulted in a number of miniature brawls around the ground - luckily for both sides they were all cleared up before anyone could get themselves in trouble for future games this season. The term was again filled with stoppages, going over the 30 minute mark, but Coburg seemed to acclimatise better to the style and kicked 3 goals to Collingwood's 4 to go in to half time 24 points down. Nahas had his best 30 minutes for the day, kicking 2 goals and showing a lot of run around the ground, while the dangerous Nick Maric added the other.
Unfortunately for Coburg, they couldn't quite go on with their second quarter improvement in the third. Collingwood once again got on top through the middle, and began to look very clean with their passing around the ground and finding free men inside 50. At one stage during the term the lead had stretched out to over 6 goals but a few quick late goals to McGuane, added to 2 earlier from Brett O'Hanlon, helped reduce the margin to 28 points going in to the final change - a similar lead to what had been held all day.
The final term showed much of the same for Coburg. They showed signs of breaking their way back in to the game but rarely managed to reduce the margin under 20 points. A lot of life went out of the game mid-way through the term as players tired and the margin looked to be irretrievable for the Tigers. The quarter ended with each team kicking 3 goals, and the match ending with Collingwood victorious by 28 points.
A few of the key performers for Coburg included Same Lonergan, who was crucial on the inside winning 13 clearances and 9 hard ball gets amongst his 27 disposals. Matt Arnot again stated his case for a senior call up also gathering 27 touches including 9 clearances, and Luke McGuane was the most dangerous forward for the day, booting 3.3 and grabbing 4 contested marks amongst his 12 touches.
Collingwood 18.10.118
Coburg 13.12.90
GOALS: Mcguane 3, Nahas, Ohanlon 2, Grgic, Maric, McDonough, Stephenson, Keogh, Venditti 1.
BEST: Lonergan, Nahas, Arnot, Helbig, McGuane, McIntosh.
Coburg play top of the ladder Casey Scorpions on Sunday 23rd June at Casey Fields.
Development 11am, Seniors 2pm.
Last Modified on 17/06/2013 12:00