Collingwoodfc.com.au drills deeper into the Magpies’ nail biting win over St Kilda on Saturday night.

The Result
Collingwood 12.19 (91)
St Kilda 13.7 (85)

Goals - Dawes 2, Jolly 2, Swan 2, Thomas 2, Beams, Fasolo, Wellingham, Cloke
Disposals - Beams 32, Sidebottom 32, Swan 31, Pendlebury 30, Thomas 26

A curious match chock full of momentum swings and riddled with errors from both sides that occasionally bordered on comical. With so much to play for in the contexts of both club’s seasons, Collingwood and St Kilda at times appeared intent on gifting victory to each other in a thrilling final quarter that would have enthralled the neutrals but left fans of both sides exhausted.

Click here to watch the CTV highlights.

Collingwood won the game with a five goal to one-second quarter that opened up a cosy 27-point gap at the main break. But supporters who were expecting a cakewalk were in for a fright, with the Saints kicking eight of the 12 goals scored in the second half and well and truly pushing for their ninth when the final siren came calling.

Bucks’ take
“I just felt like it was a bit of The Goodies. A bit of Benny Hill music could have been playing in the background. We just seemed to make every little error we possibly could to lose the game of footy. We got away with it in many ways because we did so much out of character towards the end there. We ground it out. It wasn't our best footy, apart from the second quarter, which we've identified as the way we want to play” - Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.

Hear more from Bucks in his post match press conference.

Over the fence
“We strive as a club to eventually get ourselves to the point where our good play is an insurance policy against those sorts of things that will constantly happen game after game after game. We don't want to be a club that throws out excuses. If anything we want to accept responsibility for some skill errors tonight that we need to improve. We need to demand higher standards internally” - St Kilda coach Scott Watters.

Read the match report here.

Not again!
A draw! Between Collingwood and St Kilda! The 57,873 strong crowd and the hundreds of thousands tuning in around the world were cringing at the prospect of the two sides finding themselves locked together at game’s end, just as they did less than two years ago on Grand Final day at the MCG. Such an unlikely outcome again loomed large as St Kilda, only six points in arrears, pressed hard in search of a major in the dying minutes. Even the resolute Harry O’Brien couldn’t prevent his mind from wandering back to 25 September 2010 as the clock ticked into its final minute.

Panic stations
They say winning is contagious. They say habits are contagious. But are turnovers contagious? On the evidence of Saturday night, some will argue they are. Both sides had their moments where it appeared that they were set to fly inside 50 and spilt the big sticks, only to commit (unintentionally, of course) a potentially calamitous turnover. Even Nathan Buckley couldn’t help but muse that the Benny Hill soundtrack would make for perfect background music to some of the turnovers that, perversely, helped make the game so thrilling.

View the best photos from Collingwood's six-point win.

Oozing class
When Collingwood’s recruiting team drafted Dale Thomas with the second overall selection at the 2005 National Draft, it prompted the raising of eyebrows in some quarters. After all, it wasn’t the way that all the vaunted Phantom Drafts that fans devour had told us the draft order would pan out. We all know that it has since proven an inspired choice, and Thomas is now one of the finest players in the competition.

But that x-factor and ability to rise to the occasion when the heat is on that was on show when Thomas was best afield in the TAC Cup Grand Final in ’05 again rose to prominence in the final quarter of the Magpies’ win on Saturday night. Jamie Elliott sent a kick in long to Thomas who was stationed one-on-one with St Kilda maestro Sam Fisher at centre half forward that flew marginally over the pair’s heads. Using his trademark pace, Thomas burnt off Fisher, gathered with one hand off the deck at full tilt and managed to remain balanced without dropping his speed before snapping the ball through the middle. All in the one motion. It prompted a frenzy in the grandstands and left commentators fevourishly flicking through their thesaurus’ looking for the right words to describe what they’d just seen.

The medical room
Tyson Goldsack was the one major casualty to arise from Saturday night’s victory. The 25-year-old suffered an ankle injury early in the third quarter and was immediately substituted out of the ground. Fortunately, no break was sustained, meaning Goldsack is estimated to sit out the next one to two weeks. Chris Tarrant was a late withdrawal owing to groin soreness and is considered to be in the frame for selection again this week.

A game within a game
St Kilda’s small forward Stephen Milne has gained cult status in recent years for his ability to kick team-lifting goals and fire up teammates and opponents alike. Something interesting always happens when Milne is in possession. He has had Harry O’Brien for company in recent battles with the Magpies and the pair always manages to put on a show. The honours were shared on Saturday night, with Milne sneaking under the guard to kick three goals while O’Brien was a source of constant drive and energy. His most important contribution was his free kick in the teeth of the Saints’ goal with only seconds remaining. O’Brien kept his eyes on the prize and was rewarded with a free kick for chopping of the arms.

Watch the CTV highlights, including Dale Thomas' last quarter goal, here.

Consider this
Collingwood and St Kilda continue to play in waves. In their six matches between round 13, 1999 and round nine, 2003, Collingwood walked away triumphant. Then, from round eight, 2004 until round 14, 2006, the Saints won all four battles. The Pies took out the next three in ’07-’08 before St Kilda began a run of four successive victories that included the 2008 Semi Final and the 2009 Qualifying Final. But since the Saints’ last victory in round three, 2010, Collingwood has not lost one of their past six encounters. The only anomaly? None other than the 2010 Grand Final draw.

What does it mean?
-    Tyson Goldsack has now played more matches this season (18) than in any of his previous five. Unfortunately, his run that bettered his 17 games in his debut season has come to an end due to his aforementioned ankle injury.
-    The tackling machine is back. Jamie Elliott went without a tackle last week but hit back with nine against the Saints.
-    Saturday night’s match was the ninth successive MCG meeting between the two sides that has drawn more than 50,000 fans.

VFL
Collingwood’s VFL team had extra impetus to perform against Bendigo with the inclusions of Andrew Krakouer and Brent Macaffer who made impressive returns from their respective knee injuries sustained in February. And perform it did. Down a point at quarter time, the Magpies turned it on in the middle two quarters with Alan Didak showcasing his familiar zip in the midfield and Jackson Paine bagging five goals.

Looking ahead…
Saturday night is shaping as a nightmare for tipsters. The Sydney Swans have won their past nine and are sitting comfortably in top spot on the AFL ladder. But they have not beaten Collingwood since round 13, 2005, and hold a 7-2 record at Stadium Australia since 2003. This has all the makings of a classic.