COLLINGWOOD notched the 19th win of its season on Saturday night, as expected, but the 18-point margin and the daring play of the Brisbane Lions came as a big surprise to the 47,788 fans at the MCG.

The competition-leaders trailed the 15th-placed Lions by seven points at the first break and were made to work hard before they broke the game open in the third term to set up the 14.18 (102) to 13.6 (84) win.

The desperate Lions laid 13 more tackles than their heralded opponents in a first quarter that had coach Mick Malthouse striding purposefully onto the ground as the quarter-time siren still echoed around the grandstands.

The contest swung in Collingwood's favour in the second term as Luke Ball and Dayne Beams got busy. But the Lions kept plugging away and would have still counted themselves as some sort of chance to cause a huge upset at half-time when they were 16 points adrift. 
 
However, the Magpies quickly put paid to that notion with a five-goals-to-one quarter that, while enough to take care of the youthful Lions sans Jonathan Brown, was still a long way from the stifling brilliance they've routinely displayed this season.   

Pies supporters hopeful of witnessing the devastating final-term onslaught that Collingwood has used to dispatch so many opponents with this year, were left sorely disappointed.

The Lions were able to rediscover the daring, play-on style that sliced through the Pies' press so effectively early and they reaped the benefits on the scoreboard, outscoring Collingwood by 28 points.

Influential players
Travis Cloke was the dominant forward on the ground with five goals and Dane Swan led the way with 33 possessions. Swan had plenty of help, however, with Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams, Luke Ball and Alan Didak all finishing with 30 touches.

What it means
With Geelong having its second bye of the season, Collingwood moved a game clear on top of the ladder with the win and, with superior percentage will undoubtedly claim back-to-back minor premierships.

New faces
Debutant Tom Young encapsulated the contrasting fortunes of the Pies. On the face of it, his 23-possession, two-goal performance was a dream debut, but his coach was lamenting some defensive lapses after the game.

TOYOTA AFL Dream Team Highlight
Collingwood: On the back of his five goal haul, Cloke led the way with 134 points, followed by Swan (119) and Didak, who returned to form with 109 points.

The fixture
Collingwood travels west to take on a Fremantle outfit desperate to keep any hope of a top eight finish alive next Friday night. Mick Malthouse's men then face the Geelong juggernaut on Friday night at the MCG in the final round of the season.

QUARTER BY QUARTER
First quarter
Chris Tarrant started forward for the Pies as Mick Malthouse looked to stretch the Lions defence. But a quick clearance for the Lions saw Brent Staker kicked the first major within a minute. After a 50m penalty against Travis Cloke, Irish recruit Niall McKeever kicked his first AFL goal Dale Thomas was lively early, almost wrapping up the mark and goal of the year while Scott Pendlebury was unstoppable around the stoppages. But it was the Lions who held the advantage early, and it was Simon Buckley who faced a fired-up Malthouse at the break.

Brisbane Lions by 7 points
 
Second quarter 
The Pies have won 16 of their 19 second quarters this season and Dane Swan got the ball rolling with his first goal. Ineffective at one end, Tarrant was moved to more familiar territory down back as both teams traded goals early. Cloke was starting to get the advantage over his opponent McKeever with two goals in a space of a minute as the Pies hit the front. The Lions were struggling to penetrate the Pies forward press, however a moment of brilliance from Ashley McGrath kept his side within striking distance.

Collingwood by 16 points

Third quarter
Collingwood's forward press continued to make life difficult for the Lions backline. But the Pies couldn't capitalise on their territorial advantage until the ten-minute mark, with Swan taking a strong contested mark and kicking his second. The floodgates opened soon after, with two majors to debutant Tom Young and two more to Cloke.

Collingwood by 46 points

Fourth quarter
Ben Reid was substituted out of the match with a rib injury, and the Pies missed two opportunities early to extend their lead. The Lions suddenly found some space to run and carry. Cloke kicked his fifth but the underdogs refused to surrender, kicking three of the last four goals in an impressive final quarter.

Collingwood by 18 points

Collingwood                2.4     7.10   12.16    14.18 (102)
Brisbane Lions            3.5     5.6     6.6        13.6 (84)

GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 5, Young 2, Fasolo 2, Swan 2, Brown, Sinclair, Beams
Brisbane Lions: McGrath 3, Staker 2, Rockliff 2, Cornelius 2, McKeever, Banfield, Sheldon, Power

BEST
Collingwood: Cloke, Swan, Ball, Beams, Pendlebury, Didak, Young
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Rockliff, Redden, Maguire, Black, McGrath

INJURIES
Collingwood: Andrew Krakouer (quad tightness) replaced in selected side by John McCarthy, Reid (ribs)
Brisbane Lions: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Ben Reid (ribs) replaced by John McCarthy at three-quarter time.
Brisbane Lions: Patrick Karnezis replaced by Daniel Rich during the third quarter.

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Dalgleish, Findlay, Jeffery

Official crowd: 47, 788 at the MCG

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL