> Watch the team sing the song after the winAN AMAZING turnaround has seen Collingwood keep its premiership tilt alive, coming from behind three times to defeat Adelaide in a pulsating, classic semi-final at the MCG on Saturday night.
The Magpies rallied after being thumped early, and twice again in the final term, to snatch a remarkable five-point victory in one of the gutsiest performances of the year.
When the final siren sounded, Collingwood had kicked 12.11 (83) to 11.12 (78) to end Adelaide's season in the most dramatic fashion and put it into a preliminary final showdown with Geelong.
The result was in doubt until the final seconds of the match, with John Anthony converting a free kick to put his team in front for the third and final time.
But this seemed the unlikeliest result possible in the first quarter when the Pies were smashed in contested possessions, inside-50s and – most importantly – the scoreboard.
The Crows kicked six goals to one in the opening term. Patrick Dangerfield was the main destroyer with two but, as has become its trademark, Adelaide had scoring options all over the ground.
Kurt Tippett, Chris Knights, Scott Thompson and Trent Hentschel all added their names to the score sheet to take the Crows out to a 29-point lead at quarter time.
It is a massive deficit in a home-and-away game let alone in a cut-throat final and the Magpies responded to their desperate situation by switching to a man-on-man structure.
The results were not immediately dramatic, but the Pies at least slowed the Adelaide scoring avalanche.
> Watch Alan Toovey speak to CTV in the rooms after the matchBrett Burton's goal was the Crows' lone major for the term, while Collingwood inched closer with goals to Harry O'Brien and Sharrod Wellingham.
Still, at 26 points, Adelaide's half-time lead hardly looked shaky but that was before the complexion of the game changed utterly in the third quarter.
The architects of the turnaround were defenders Nick Maxwell and Heath Shaw, who halted the Crows' forward forays and began setting up attacking raids for the Pies.
One of these was resulted in a goal early in the term when another of Collingwood's best Dane Swan got on the end of slick movement.
With Tarkyn Lockyer and Steele Sidebottom contributing heavily, suddenly it was Collingwood that was winning the hard footy, dominating possession and blitzing its opposition with pinpoint disposals.
The result was a further five goals – two each to Brad Dick and Ben Johnson – to make it a six-goals-to-zero term. Incredibly, when the teams headed to their huddles for the last break, Collingwood had a 10-point advantage.
It didn't last long. Adelaide began the final quarter in manic fashion, getting first hands to the football and erasing the deficit with quick goals to Thompson and Tippett.
Collingwood came again but could not find the middle of the sticks and the misses were made to hurt all the more when Tippett converted a free kick to take the Crows out to a seven-point lead.
But there were still twists to come in this most Agatha Christie-esque of games.
Brent Macaffer was the first to put up his hand, his long goal dragging the Pies to within a point, before levelling scores with a behind.
When Leigh Brown cooly slotted a set shot soon after, it seemed the Magpies would the ones returning to the 'G in preliminary finals week.
> Watch Mick Malthouse front the media after the matchBut Tippett had other ideas. His fourth goal snatched back the lead for the Crows and made him the temporary toast of Adelaide.
Any bottles of champagne that had been opened in the city of churces, however, had had their corks popped early.
The Magpies muscled the ball into their forward-50 where full-forward Anthony was ruled to have been infringed.
The Magpies' sharp-shooter had a quiet night, kicking only two behinds to that point. But with his team's season on the line, he sent the set-shot through to put the Collingwood army in raptures and send the Crows home devastated.
Collingwood 1.4 3.5 9.7 12.11 (83)
Adelaide 6.3 7.7 7.9 11.12 (78)
GOALS
Collingwood: Johnson 2, Dick 2, Lockyer, O'Brien, Wellingham, Swan, Cloke, Macaffer, L. Brown, Anthony
Adelaide: Tippett 4, Dangerfield 2, Thompson 2, Knights, Hentschel, Burton
BEST
Collingwood: Maxwell, Sidebottom, Shaw, Swan, Lockyer, Johnson, Wellingham, Macaffer
Adelaide: Vince, Goodwin, Johncock, Edwards, Shirley, Tippett, Porplyzia
INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
Adelaide: Knights (hamstring)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Chamberlain, McInerney
Official crowd: 62,184 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
