WHEN you've lost one game for the entire season, winning in July tends to become just that bit routine. But not for Collingwood against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

The Magpies put a tumultuous 48-hour period behind them to outlast the Blues by 19 points in front of 85,936 fans, which would suggest that fans still love their traditional Saturday afternoon football.

Lesser sides might have been distracted by the continued media frenzy over coach Mick Malthouse and his place in the Collingwood hierarchy next season once the baton is passed to Nathan Buckley, an issue that flared up after a TV interview given by Malthouse on Thursday night.

Then came the shock of the eight-match ban handed to star defender Heath Shaw the next day after he was found guilty of betting on football.

If anything, the Pies looked like a side that just wanted to get back on the paddock playing footy. They started at a furious pace, with two quick goals to Travis Cloke and Scott Pendlebury.

Within six minutes the Pies had a two-goal buffer and apart from some brief glimpses from the Blues in the third term, Collingwood always appeared to have matters in hand.

In fact, had the Magpies converted better in the first half, in which they had most of the play, the margin might have been closer to five goals than the 11 points that was keeping the Blues in the game at half-time.

The first half was low-scoring with just 11 goals between them. Collingwood's press was working a treat, but the Pies were tardy in front of goal. But it opened up in the third term, which yielded 11 goals as the Blues finally lived up to their pre-match promise of taking the game on.

Two moments of brilliance from the Magpies, a snap goal across the body from Pendlebury followed by a freakish kick from deep in the forward pocket by Steele Sidebottom extended the lead to 17 points, and while the Blues were able to once more bridge the gap to less than a goal, Leigh Brown and Leon Davis extended the lead back to 17 points later in the term and the game was effectively over.

It will go down as a workmanlike, rather than exceptional win by the Pies. Swan was dominant early and finished with 31 possessions while Dale Thomas had 29, which included seven clearances. Pendlebury had 26, with five clearances. Again, not a brilliant display - that third quarter goal notwithstanding - but solid throughout and important when the Blues pressed.

Blues skipper Chris Judd was quiet early and had to deal with a succession of Magpies applying hard tags, but he soon settled into his stride with 35 touches - 22 of them contested.

Bryce Gibbs was also good with 27 touches, while another important player was forward Andrew Walker who booted four goals in a nice return to form. But he was a lone hand up forward for the Blues, who with Michael Jamison injured, again had to play erstwhile forward Lachie Henderson down back. He stood Travis Cloke, who finished with 3.4 to be the leading goalkicker for the Magpies.

INFLUENTIAL PLAYERS
Collingwood defender Chris Tarrant enjoyed not having to deal with any gorillas in the Carlton forward line and had the better of whoever the Blues chose to play forward - Andrew Walker, Bret Thornton and Matthew Kreuzer among them. Travis Cloke didn’t kick very well at the other end, 3.4 was his return, but he took five contested marks. The entire Carlton side took only 11.

WHAT THE COACH SAID
Mick Malthouse (Collingwood): "They made it a very tough one-on-one game today, which is terrific for us. There seemed to be a lot of mistakes from my point of view and I'm not sure we really adjusted to the game emotionally.  The greatest pleasing thing was we won the four quarters, albeit very small, but we kept on going against a side that really kept on challenging us all day. "

DREAM TEAM HIGHLIGHT
Collingwood: Scott Pendlebury ($417,000) scored 119 points. Dale Thomas ($413,000) scored a game-high 135 points.

Quarter by Quarter
First Quarter
Collingwood looked to have the ascendancy for much of the first quarter but used the ball poorly and could not make an impression on the scoreboard. When Carlton's Wayde Twomey, on debut, kicked a goal at the 24-minute mark both teams had scored two goals and the game was alive. The battles around the stoppages were fascinating and even, but the ball was often spilling Carlton's way (and the free kick count was 10-4 to Carlton at the break). Even with that difference the Blues were worrying the Magpies with their quick counterattack. Blues defender Matthew Watson was looking for a hole to hide in at the 22-minute mark after he received a lucky free kick deep in defence and then turned it over but Collingwood could not make the Blues pay, having two posters for the quarter and Thomas missing a gettable set shot.

Second Quarter
If you handball the footy with Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan and Dale Thomas lurking around half-forward, you need to be precise. Carlton's Nick Duigan found that out early in the second quarter as his side was looking threatening with its run. It led to a Travis Cloke goal from point blank range and all of sudden the Magpie machine looked to click into gear. However, they were still doing little damage on the scoreboard, with an inability to turn forward pressure into goals. Chris Judd began to lift after a long kick from Heath Scotland bounced through and the ball began to spend more time in Carlton's forward half. Against the run of play Collingwood went forward and Alan Toovey found Lachlan Keeffe who converted from 15m out, his first goal in AFL football. Carlton quickly pegged that goal back with 20 seconds to go. Then Robert Warnock had a set shot after the half-time siren but could only manage a behind. In a low scoring game Carlton was in touch and playing as many good patches of football as Collingwood.

Third Quarter
Four goals in the first eight minutes showed the game was opening up. The centre clearances were critical and the Blues were within five points until two moments of brilliance - from Scott Pendlebury and then Steele Sidebottom - stretched the lead to 16 points. However Carlton hit back with a goal after Ben Reid inexplicably ran into Nick Maxwell's running line and Andrew Walker kicked a goal as the ball spilt. Four posters to Carlton as it tried to claw its way back did not help its cause but the Blues were chopping them up with their pace. Eddie Betts kicked a goal after the Blues ran the ball down the Members' wing and they drew within four points. Leon Davis went forward to provide some forward pressure and slow Chris Yarran's run but Carlton kept coming. A Davis goal off the ground was answered by Jeff Garlett - another goal to Carlton late in the quarter  - and the Blues were hanging in there. Luke Ball stretched the lead to three goals and Garlett could not answer when he soccered the ball off the ground from a crumb and it cannoned into the post. Eleven goals for the quarter and many wasted chances from both sides but Collingwood extended its lead by six points.

Fourth Quarter
Collingwood looked to be controlling the tempo of the game for the first 12 minutes of the quarter but it could not put scoreboard pressure on. A 23-point lead with 10 minutes to go was whittled down to 17 when Andrew Walker kicked a goal. Carlton's onballers would not stop working and were winning the ball around the stoppages. Collingwood kept having chances but it could not bridge the gap. It was the substitute Alex Fasolo who came on late in the game who kicked a critical goal with six minutes to go that stretched the lead back to 23 points and put the result beyond doubt. Carlton's effort was valiant once again but it just fell short, although hitting the post six times was unlucky.

NEXT FOUR
Collingwood: The Magpies hit the road to play Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium before an MCG clash with Essendon. Then come away games against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and St Kilda, in a Grand Final rematch at Etihad Stadium.


Collingwood:     2.6    5.11    11.16   13.20     (98)
Carlton:              2.1    4.6      9.11     11.13    (79)

GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 3, Pendlebury 2, Keeffe, Davis, McCarthy, Ball, Brown, Sidebottom, Fasolo, Thomas
Carlton:  Walker 3, Murphy 2, Twomey, Scotland, Thornton, Garlett, Yarran

BEST
Collingwood:  Thomas, Pendlebury, Swan, Ball, Cloke, Johnson, Tarrant, O'Brien
Carlton:   Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Simpson, Scotland

INJURIES
Collingwood: None
Carlton: Aaron Joseph (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Lachlan Keeffe replaced by Alex Fasolo in the fourth quarter
Carlton: Aaron Joseph (hamstring) replaced by Paul Bower in the third quarter
 
Reports: Nil

Umpires:  Margetts, Rosebury, Meredith

Official crowd: 85, 936 at MCG

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