Dockers snatch dramatic draw against wobbly Magpies
Justin Chadwick |
Fremantle skipper Alex Pearce kicked an emotional late goal as the Dockers launched a frenetic fightback to post a thrilling 75-75 draw with Collingwood at Optus Stadium.
The Magpies looked to have Friday’s game in the bag after Bobby Hill’s goal with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining gave them a 25-point lead.
But goals to Bailey Banfield and Hayden Young – plus a controversial goal to Sean Darcy – put the Dockers within reach, before Pearce took a sliding mark and kicked truly to cut the margin to one point with 109 seconds remaining.
Fremantle had a chance to win it – but Jeremy Sharp’s 25m shot on the run with 47 seconds remaining could only manage a behind.
Collingwood surged the ball forward and had two ball-ups in their forward 50m, but Fremantle’s defence held firm.
The Magpies finished with 10.15 (75) to Fremantle’s 11.9 (75).
It marked Collingwood’s second draw this season, following on from their stalemate with Essendon.
Adding to the disappointment for Collingwood is the fact that Mason Cox and Brody Mihocek look set to join their lengthy injury list.
Cox’s leg bent awkwardly backwards and bore the brunt of his entire weight as he came crashing down in a third-quarter marking contest.
He also suffered a concussion during the contest.
Mihocek, who was playing his first match back from a hamstring strain, went off in the fourth quarter after re-injuring the same hamstring.
Collingwood already entered the match missing match-winner Jordan De Goey, Jamie Elliott, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Tom Mitchell and Jeremy Howe among others.
Pearce dedicated his crucial late goal to his former teammate Cam McCarthy, who died a fortnight ago.
“I was nervous going back when I had it,” Pearce told Channel 7 while holding back tears after the match.
“My hands were a little bit shaky.
“I was like, ‘Cam would kick this’. It was for him.”
The biggest talking point of the match came with six minutes remaining when Collingwood led by 19 points.
Collingwood’s Lachlan Sullivan gave away a free kick close to goal when he handed the ball to his teammate Nick Daicos instead of the umpire when a ball-up was called.
Darcy nailed the ensuing free kick, before Young and Pearce popped up for goals to set up the draw.
“I’m looking forward to what the AFL tell us about that, because I wasn’t aware that’s a free kick,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae said.
“But maybe clearly it is because they don’t pay things that aren’t there. So looking forward to see what they say.”
Nick Daicos led the way for Collingwood with 35 disposals and 10 clearances, while former Docker Lachie Schultz was booed every time he touched the ball on the way to 15 disposals and 0.1.
Banfield finished with three goals for Fremantle.
“I’m really proud of the way we fought the game out,” Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said.
“We could have found it too hard, but the players found something, which I’m really proud about.
“We could have snatched it at the end, but the way the game was getting played in that the second half we probably stole two points.”
The Dockers entered the match with big question marks over their goalkicking accuracy after returning 13.33 over the past fortnight.
But it was Collingwood who had the wobbles, kicking 3.9 in the first half.
Collingwood went into the quarter-time break up by a point, but the big talking points of the term revolved around Fremantle spearhead Jye Amiss.
Amiss, who kicked a wayward 2.5 last week, put his first shot out on the full – a tough 50m set shot near the boundary.
His next set shot – from 45m almost directly in front – sprayed to the left.
And Amiss was again in the spotlight in the dying seconds of the term when he gave away an off-the-ball free kick while grappling with Charlie Dean, gifting Harvey Harrison a shot on goal which he converted.
The Magpies kicked five-goals-to-nil in the third quarter to snatch the momentum, and they looked to be cruising in the final term before Fremantle’s late comeback.
AAP
