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Collingwood smash Hawks in NAB Challenge

26th February, 2015
4

Premiers Hawthorn have taken a pre-season drubbing in Launceston at the hands of a resurgent Collingwood.

The Magpies led at every break during Thursday night’s NAB Challenge opener at Aurora Stadium and emerged victors 17.14 (116) to 2.8.6 (72).

The deal was sealed with seven final quarter goals.

It is the first time since September 2011 that Collingwood have beaten the boys in brown and gold.

Alex Fasolo led the scoring for the Magpies with four goals.

Youngster Jordan De Goey lived up to expectation in the top grade, showing relentless athleticism and also kicked a goal in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t an entirely one-sided affair witnessed by a crowd of almost 15,500 at the ground more commonly known as York Park.

The Hawks made a crisp start with Ben McEvoy scoring a goal within a minute of the opening bounce.

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That was closely followed by a Luke Breust kick from within the 50 which found the middle.

But the bad news started early for the two-time cup raisers, as Tyson Goldsack kicked the first goal for the Magpies then Hawthorn defender Kaiden Brand helped from the ground nursing a heavily taped left shoulder.

After a frantic opening quarter Collingwood led by 14 points.

In a see-sawing second quarter the Hawks fired back early with midfielder Jed Anderson finding the middle posts, signalling his return to form after an injury-plagued 2014 season.

And James Sicily kicked the first nine-point super goal from outside 50 metres.

The Magpies shared the spoils as Patrick Karnezis booted three while there were single goals to multiple players including Jamie Elliott, Corey Gault and Brodie Grundy.

After an injury-plagued last season that saw the Magpies finish 11th, coach Nathan Buckley said it has been a training focus to make sure all players are versatile enough to back up when needed.

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They showed that ability on Thursday night, he said, singling out Fasolo.

“Fas is obviously a very skilled player, very good in the air, knows where the goals are and was able to finish well tonight.

“He’s had a fantastic pre-season, he’s put himself in a really good position to take advantage of that and if he keeps performing like that he will get his chances.”

Buckley cited a true team effort for Thursday’s win in which all players contributed, including the new recruits.

Stand-in Hawks coach Brett Ratten conceded it was a disappointing finish to the game but noted some stand out performances, including by McEvoy and Anderson.

He said the result will serve as an important lesson to young players.

New signing James Frawley performed admirably after Kaiden Brand left the ground with a dislocated shoulder in the opening minutes, Ratten said.

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“He’s fairly solid,” Ratten said of Frawley.

“He probably had to play a fair bit of game time because Brand went off early … he was reasonable first up.”

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