Collingwood upset reigning Premier in a thriller

Collingwood have upset reigning premier Footscray by four points in round three of Peter Jackson VFL at Victoria Park to record their first win of the season. The Bulldogs, trailing by as much as 37-points early in the game, hit the front in the final quarter but the Magpies rallied to regain the lead and win 16.4.100 to 14.12.96.

Jordan De Goey threw his hat in the ring for AFL promotion with three goals while Ryan Pendlebury was prominent in defence and Brenden Abbott was lively with two goals. For the Bulldogs Jack Redpath booted three and was pivotal in their fightback while Lachie Hunter with 28 touches and Shane Biggs with 30 also figured in their sides best.

The Magpies stunned Footscray in the first quarter booting six goals to nil, aided by the wind favouring the Yarra River end. Alex Fasolo began well booting two goals while bigmen Mason Cox and Jarrod Witts were on top of their Bulldogs counterparts Will Minson and Tom Campbell.

Injuries hit both sides early with Collingwood losing Brodie Maynard to concussion and the Bulldogs Michael Fogarty to what appeared a leg injury. Meyrick Buchanan snapped the Bulldogs first goal two minutes into the second quarter and Lachie Hunter followed with another shortly after as they tried to make use of the wind and get themselves back into the match.

However the Pies continued their pressure and run and when Cox goaled after selling some candy in the goal square nearing half-time their lead was 34 points. The wind changed for the second half to favour the Sherrin Stand end and Footscray capitalised on it.

They booted eight goals to four with Redpath scoring three and former Oakleigh Charger, Toby McLean, who got the fightback rolling with two in the first three minutes. Brent Prismall, Hunter and Biggs were finding the sherrin and Pies defenders Pendlebury and Jonathon Marsh, who was having a battle with Redpath, were under constant pressure to repel the attacks.

At the final change the margin was back to just seven points and the Bulldogs fans had finally found some voice. They found even more when their side hit the front midway through the final term thanks to a snap from Buchanan.

Collingwood coach, Dale Tapping, left the coaches box and barked instructions from the boundary line for the remainder of the quarter. It had an effect as his side rallied with goals to Abbott and Ben Kennedy to register a stirring win in front of a vocal home crowd.

Collingwood midfielder Clinton Young watched on from the bench after quarter-time as a precaution to his hamstring injury and Maynard will be assessed for concussion leading into a big round four clash with Geelong under lights in Bendigo. Footscray have the bye to re-group before they too face the Cats at the VU Whitten Oval the following week in round five.

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