The Roar
The Roar

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Stevie J special and Jez Cameron's six appeal conquer Collingwood

Jeremy Cameron of the Giants reacts after kicking a goal during the Round 3 AFL match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Greater Western Sydney Giants at Blundstone Arena in Hobart, Saturday, April 8, 2017. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Expert
13th May, 2017
15

Steve Johnson’s patented last-minute magic has seen the Giants take their first ever win over the Collingwood Magpies, victorious by three points.

It was an incredibly tight finish with no shortage of suspense, but Collingwood looked to have it won when Jeremy Cameron – who kicked six for the day – could only manage a behind with 90 seconds left thanks to some great presssure from Henry Schade.

It wasn’t to be however as the Giants went forward again and Johnson, always living for the big moment, gathered loose ball, ran into the goalsquare and made no mistake.

Collingwood put themselves into a winning position in the first quarter, taking a 26-point lead at the first break by dominating the Giants through the midfield and having a bit more luck converting up forward than they have in the rest of the year.

Jarryd Blair kicked two goals for the term and Cameron got his first of the game, but it was Brodie Grundy dominating Shane Mumford who was the hero at the first break.

The Giants switched on after that though and the second quarter was theirs – three goals from Cameron in that term in a six-goals-to-two effort saw them fight back to be only a point down at the main break.

It was then a deadlock in the third, as the two sides went goal for goal throughout the quarter and we saw seven lead changes, with the flipping switch landing on the Giants by a point at the final change. Cameron booted his fifth.

Brayden Maynard was nearly the hero in the final quarter, he kicked two goals both of which put Collingwood ahead at different stages, but the Giants responded every time.

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Ben Reid also put one through for the Pies but a soccer from Cameron for his sixth, a long bomb by Jonny Patton and the match-winner from Johnson gave GWS the win.

The Pies should be commended for playing tough, uncompromising footy, and dramatically improving their forward line ability, but it wasn’t to be.

GWS won’t be happy with their slow start, but to pull a win out of their hats when they had three injured players on the bench – Aidan Corr, Sam J Reid and Stephen Coniglio all with concerns – was something to be proud of.

In the end it was a thrilling game of footy with thirteen lead changes along the way that ended in the Giants scraping through for their first ever win against Collingwood.

Final score
GWS Giants 15.12.102
Collingwood Magpies 15.9.99

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