It may only be February, but having our footballers running around against real opposition again feels good.

With the roof wide open and blue Thursday evening skies greeting the first bouce, Collingwood's JLT Community Series clash against Essendon is poised to be an exciting one.

There's new faces everywhere, and returning ones too.

Follow all the action throughout the match below, or follow our official social accounts.

Facebook.

Twitter.

Instagram.

Snapchat.

First Quarter

- Essendon jump out of the blocks first with a running goal from Orazio Fantasia. The mid/fwd had plenty of space as he eyes the goals and makes no mistake.

- You won't find it in any football manuals, but Jesse White pinpoints Travis Varcoe with a strange-looking banana inside 50. Varcoe marks on his chest and makes no mistake with the resulting set shot. Magpies on the board.

- Football fans everywhere will no doubt be smiling. Jamie Elliott kicks Collingwood's second goal in his first game since later 2015. It's the Magpies second and may act as a monkey off the back of the exciting forward.

- Quarter time scores: Collingwood 3.0 (18), Essendon 2.2 (14)

- Goals: Varcoe, Elliott, Hoskin-Elliott

Second Quarter

- Jeremy Howe flies for a HUGE mark on the wing to start the second term. He can't land it, but boy that got the crowd paying attention again.

- Consecutive goals to Essendon leads a 19-point Bombers lead. They look quick, the Dons.

- Tom Phillips has been winning the ball with the best of them, and now he adds his name to the goalkickers list. Jack Crisp runs into an open goal at the Coventry end not long after and makes it two in a row for the Pies.

- Scores: Collingwood 5.4 (34), Essendon 6.5 (41)

- Goals: Phillips, Crisp

Third Quarter

- Good to see some new and returning faces taking the field in the second half. After sitting out the first two quarters, Matt Scharenberg and Josh Daicos have lined up on the field and are ready to attack the rest of this contest.

- Not what we want to see. Ben Sinclair is being helped off the ground by trainers after sliding into a contest in defence. It looks to be his leg, we'll stay on top of how severe.

- James Aish gets his first of the evening and puts a halt to Essendon's momentum. The set shot from the top of the 50 cuts the Bombers' lead to 21 points.

- He kicked 196 of them at Fremantle, but now Chris Mayne has his first goal in Black and White. The recruit gathers cleanly and spins around to snap through for a six-pointer.

- High-flyers Jeremy Howe and Jamie Elliott are sitting out this second half but fear not, we've still got some aerial capacity. Mason Cox flies and hangs onto a huge grab just outside forward 50.

- Scores: Collingwood 9.4 (58), Essendon 12.9 (81)

- Goals: Aish, Crisp, Mayne White

Fourth Quarter

- Ahh, the pre-season. Courtesy of back-to-back super-goals from Lynden Dunn and Travis Varoce, we're all of a sudden back in this game. Three goals for the price of two... we can live with that.

- He's been kept relatively quiet by Essendon's defenders tonight, but Darcy Moore's first goal is an important one. All of a sudden we lead Essendon 82-81.

- The attendance of 16,521 flashes up on the Etihad Stadium big screen. Not bad for mid-Feb, but we're tipping there'll be a few more in the building when we meet the Bombers again on ANZAC Day. 

- The goals keep on coming and we keep edging closer to a victory. Jordan De Goey has stepped up to another level in this final term. He's kicked our last two and an 11-point lead with only a minute to go should be enough.

- Siren. We've done it! 

- Scores: Collingwood 2.13.9 (105) def. Essendon 0.14.10 (94)

- Super-goals: Dunn, Varcoe

- Goals: Moore, Hoskin-Elliott, De Goey, De Goey



FINAL 

Collingwood     0.3.0     0.5.4     0.9.4        2.13.9     (105)
Essendon          0.2.2     0.6.5     0.12.9    0.14.10      (94)

SUPERGOALS:
Collingwood: Dunn, Varcoe
Essendon: Nil

GOALS:
Collingwood: Hoskin-Elliott 2, De Goey 2, Crisp 2, Phillips, Aish, Elliott, Mayne, Moore, Varcoe, White
Essendon: Fantasia 4, McKernan 3, Colyer 2, Green 2, McDonald-Tipaungwuti, Howlett, Stewart

CROWD:
16,521 at Etihad Stadium