COLLINGWOOD faces a sudden-death semi-final against Adelaide next week after going down to St Kilda by 28 points in the first qualifying final in front of 84,213 fans at the MCG.

The final score was St Kilda 12.8 (80) to 7.10 (52) after the Saints led by 10 points at half time.

The Saints will play the winner of Friday night's semi-final between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions while the Pies and Crows will play at the MCG on Saturday night.

The Magpies showed terrific signs in the early patch of the match, holding St Kilda to just one goal in the opening term.

They led by 15 points early in the second before the momentum shifted dramatically.

Captain Nick Riewoldt took the game by the scruff of the neck, booting three quick goals to give the Saints the half-time lead.

They went on with it in the third term and at one stage had kicked eight of nine goals kicked by either side in a 30-minute period from early in the second term to midway through the third.

The Pies fell 31 points down but grabbed the final two goals of the third term to go to the last change 17 points down.

However, the Saints had the mettle to finish the job on the run home.

Riewoldt finished with five goals while his partner up forward Justin Koschitzke was dangerous all day and kicked two goals himself.

But the Saints really won the game because of their ferocious pressure around the contests and on the ball carrier.

The St Kilda intensity eventually proved too much for the Magpies and several Collingwood players failed to have their normal impact on the game.

To make matters worse, Scott Pendlebury sat out the second half with a knee injury and must be in some doubt for Saturday night's cut-throat semi-final clash with Adelaide.

Anthony Rocca took his place in the side and gave opponent Zac Dawson a torrid time early. He also booted goals in the first and third term but limped off late in the game with a leg injury.

Some of the better Magpies included Travis Cloke who was busy at both ends of the ground but there were far too many passengers. The positive is that there is plenty of improvement in the team for next week's clash.

If the Pies can beat Adelaide, they'll set up a preliminary final showdown with Geelong, a team they have performed well against in recent times.

And with more than a handful of stars keen to fight back it should be a torrid clash.

Alan Didak (13 disposals) was one Magpie well held by Clinton Jones but he had plenty of mates.

Dale Thomas went head-to-head with Nick Dal Santo early in the match and finished with two goals. Leigh Brown also started well but didn't finish the game as well as he began.

Pendlebury missed the Pies' round 22 clash with a back spasm but it is his knee that is the concern now. Losing him in the opening minute of the match had a profound influence on Collingwood's rotations.


St Kilda                      1.2 6.4 9.7 12.8 (80)
Collingwood               2.4 4.6 6.8 7.10 (52)

GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 5, Koschitzke 2, McQualter 2, Goddard, Schneider, Milne
Collingwood: Rocca 2, Thomas 2, Anthony, Medhurst, Davis

BEST
St Kilda: Riewoldt, McQualter, Fisher, Hayes, Goddard, Montagna, Jones, Gram
Collingwood: Cloke, Thomas, Shaw, Maxwell, O'Brien, Swan

INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Collingwood: Pendlebury (suspected broken leg), Rocca (ankle)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Chamberlain, McInerney

Official crowd: 84,213 at the MCG



The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs.