Match Report - Sydney v Collingwood
Cliff Hammond 4 May 2003
Sydney put in it's best four-quarter effort so far in the 2003 season to defeat Collingwood by 20 points in round 6 at the Telstra Dome. Apart from a few minutes in the first quarter, the Swans led for the entire match.
Sydney's forward line lived up to it's potential, with Hall, O'Loughlin and Goodes dominant, and the ever-reliable defence provided continual rebounds. But it was Sydney's midfield that built the platform for the victory, with the key Magpie playmakers, Nathan Buckley and Shane Woewodin, neutralised by Brett Kirk and Jude Bolton, allowing the Swans' running players to take control.
The first quarter was a blueprint for the match. The Swans made all the play early in the period, as Maxfield, Matthews, Cresswell and Williams accumulated 23 disposals in the first ten minutes, but Collingwood clawed their way back to be only 5 points in arrears at the first break. Mick O'Loughlin looked very strong, but picked up a corky late in the quarter, and Adam Goodes seemed to be running everwhere unchecked.
The two teams settled into an arm wrestle during the second quarter, with outstanding individual efforts by Barry Hall, Leo Barry and Jude Bolton giving Sydney the edge, increasing their lead to 18 points at half-time.
Jason Saddington and Andrew Schauble had the Pies' key forwards, Chris Tarrant and Anthony Rocca, well in check, and with Buckley's legendary creativity frequently negated by Kirk, the Magpies' midfield often looked slow and uncertain.
Adam Goodes continued to put on a show in the third quarter. After two big "speccies" and a goal in the first half, he added two classy goals and continued to dominate the ruck duels around the ground. This proved to be the quarter that clinched the Swans' victory as they piled on 6 goals to go to a 45 point lead entering time-on, before late goals to Buckley and Tarrant pulled it back to 34 points at the final break.
Early goals by Cresswell and Hall rocked the Magpies, but Collingwood showed their class by fighting tenaciously throughout the last quarter. Chris Tarrant finally found some form, getting on top of Jason Saddington in a ten minute burst that bagged three goals and got the Magpies to within 16 points. But the Swans always looked in control, and the combination of a tenacious tackle by Leo Barry on Paul Licuria and a wobbly 50-metre goal by Nick Davis, finally snuffed-out the Collingwood charge.
Although Adam Goodes, Michael O'Loughlin and Leo Barry were outstanding, this was a strong all-round team performance by the Swans. It was very obvious that the team had come to play, and they efficiently negated every dangerous move that Malthouse made, while still maintaining the attacking style of play that Paul Roos has brought to Sydney.
The sight of Jared Crouch mercilessly eye-balling and verballing a hapless Alan Didak was surely symbolic of the Swans' determination.
SYDNEY: 4.2 8.6 14.7 17.7 (109)
COLLINGWOOD: 3.3 5.6 8.9 13.11 (89)
GOALS:
Sydney: Goodes 3, O'Loughlin 3, Hall 2, Schneider 2, J.Bolton, Cresswell, Davis, Fosdike, Kennelly, Maxfield, Williams
Collingwood: Tarrant 5, Buckley 2, Rocca 2, Betheras, Fraser, Lokan, Molloy
BEST:
Sydney: Goodes, Barry, O'Loughlin, J.Bolton, Williams, Schneider, Saddington
Collingwood: Buckley, Tarrant, Rocca, Licuria, Burns
INJURIES: Collingwood: Williams (concussion) Sydney: nil
REPORTS: nil
UMPIRES: Sheehan, Rowe, Ryan
CROWD: 41,874 at Telstra Dome
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