Collingwood has gone down in a close encounter against St. Kilda at RSEA Park after the home side kicked five final quarter goals to claim a 12-point victory on Sunday afternoon.
The sides, who played in a nailbiter last season where the Pies won thanks to a desperate Eliza James goal, proved their genuine rivalry in this year's edition. St Kilda snatched its first win of the season, 7.5 (47) to Collingwood's 5.5 (35) in front of a vocal home crowd.
MAGPIES v SAINTS Full match coverage and stats
Saint Liv Vesely (19 disposals, seven tackles) did the job at the contest, while former Pie Jaimee Lambert (18 disposals, one goal) was outstanding against her old side.
After failing to score until midway through the second term, a late press from St Kilda put the typically composed Collingwood defence under serious pressure.
As the Saints have done in patches this season, they brought the pressure right from the start, earning repeated holding the ball free kicks as Collingwood learned it had less space and less time than it thought. Unsurprisingly it was Tyanna Smith (10 tackles) leading the way in the pressure stakes, with support from Hannah Priest (eight tackles) and Nicola Xenos (six tackles) as the game wore on.
With both sides largely breaking even at the contest, resulting in a clearance count of 29-26 the Saints' way, it was a game for outside runners to really have an impact. Brit Bonnici's spread from stoppages saw her register 22 disposals, five clearances and 10 tackles, while Georgia Patrikios did the same for the Saints from the wing, with 15 disposals and an important last-quarter goal.
The Pies managed to maintain territory control for much of the second and third quarters as St Kilda struggled to rebound out of defence, looking up after winning an intercept to see nothing but a wall of Magpies. But the Saints stuck fat, creating the exact same problem for Collingwood in the final term.
Sabrina Frederick was immense in the thick of it for the Pies, winning 30 hitouts and five clearances across the afternoon. But it was the way she stood up in the contest at each end of the ground that really made her presence felt, taking a strong intercept mark to save a sure Saints goal in the opening minutes, before taking another in attack soon after to open the Pies' goalkicking.
Tarni White and Emily Smith both kicked their first goals for the Pies in the first term, with White particularly enjoying her day against her former side with another brilliant goal later in the contest.
Magpies captain Bri Davey suffered an injury scare in the second half after clutching at her ankle, however she later returned to the field.
The Pies will play Essendon next week on the morning of the AFL Grand Final, with the game kicking off from 11.05am at Punt Road Oval.
ST KILDA 0.0 1.2 2.3 7.5 (47)
COLLINGWOOD 3.2 3.3 5.5 5.5 (35)
GOALS
St Kilda: Lambert, Exon, Patrikios, Xenos, Friend, McDonald, Guttridge
Collingwood: Frederick, Smith, White, Morris
