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On a cold and greasy Sunday afternoon a game that many a supporter from Collingwood and Essendon would love to see was played in the most undesired time slot of all, a Sunday twilight game.
With the AFL evolving rapidly, the traditional two o’clock afternoon game on a Sunday to join the 1.10pm and 3.20pm games has been ditched for a horrible new trend, like boot-cut and ripped jeans.
It isn’t good for anyone, with only Foxtel being willing to cover the twilight matches on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 4.40pm, with Channel Seven preferring news on the election and other miscellaneous subjects to be broadcasted at the time.
But a couple of times the AFL has gotten it wrong, where they have scheduled a match that would normally attract up to 80,000 people in any other time slot.
Instead only beckons around 69,000, like it did in the Round 19 clash between Collingwood and Essendon in what was a fiery rematch after Essendon’s crushing Anzac Day win.
With the Bombers announcing that they had received ASADA’s report that was 400 pages long, they took to the mighty colossus that is the Melbourne Cricket Ground to battle it out against the league’s most popular club, Collingwood.
The Pies flexed their muscles in a startling first quarter that was full of tackles and pressure in a perfect game of wet weather footy by the Magpies.
After a tight six-and-a-half minutes, a Jamie Elliot toe poke forward, an overrun of the ball before a Jarrod Blair shepherd allowed Elliot to snap through the first goal for the Pies on his left foot.
Minutes later Ben Reid, who had started forward, passed it into the arms of the charging Harry O’Brien, who skidded through a dashing goal in his second match since his return from personal problems.
From the get-go O’Brien and Brendon Goddard tussled and fought and brawled in a violent two-and-a-half hours for the pair.
A lucky kick found Blair, with the little number 11 booting the Pies third goal while Essendon were still goalless.
They would stay that way for the rest of the first quarter as Ball flew over Goddard to hang and take a spectacular mark that was followed by the conversion from his set shot.
The recently wayward Travis Cloke then got onto the board as he slid one through after a strong mark.
At quarter time Collingwood were leading 33-2, with the Bombers stunned by a fantastic display by the black-and-white players.
In the second stanza Beams slotted a crucial goal through before a tiny spot fire of a brawl where Kommer brought Sinclair down, who brought the Bomber player down with him.
That ended in a Bomber free kick (which was quite ridiculous) and Essendon finally scored their first goal, albeit through a free kick.
The monolith that is Tom Bellchambers then got his way through traffic to boot another goal for Essendon as they were slowly creeping back into the match, but Quinten Lynch finally kicked a straight ball through and Jamie Elliot scored his second goal to push the margin back out to 38 points at the main break.
In the important third quarter, Reid slotted through a big one before Jake Melksham and Kyle Hardingham scored two quick goals to give the Bombers a sniff.
But the challenge was answered firmly by the Pies, who hit back through Reid, Pendlebury and Blair goals, as Elliot and Macaffer made sure Goddard’s late goal didn’t mean much.
At three-quarter time the scores were 93-38 Collingwood’s way, and in the last quarter the annihilation turned into a rout, as a Cloke double and a Sidebottom major ensured that it was the Magpies day.
Cory Dell’Olio and Scott Gumbleton tried to make the scoreboard look respectable, but the Pies had no mercy as another Cloke double and a Reid goal after the siren ensured the 79-point victory.
In a stunning display that nobody predicted (not even me!) the Pies had convincingly thrashed their foes Essendon 133-54 in what was one of the more excellent twilight games there has been (not from Essendon’s point of view though).
As the Pies make a charge for the top four, currently being placed sixth by .05 percentage over Richmond and with Sydney, Hawthorn, West Coast and North Melbourne coming up, they may just creep into the top four again.
But that is a long time away. At least we have that hope after a 79-point thrashing of Essendon in a disappointing time slot to play AFL football.
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