MATCH SUMMARY
Collingwood has handed a gallant Western Bulldogs their eighth loss of the 2019 season at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The young Bulldogs were competitive for large parts of the game, but ultimately defeated by a more experienced Magpies outfit, despite winning a number of the key components of the game.
The Dogs led by five points at half time after a promising opening, but Collingwood’s five-goal-to-two third term set up a nine-point victory.
The Bulldogs fought the game out to the final siren, kicking the last two goals of the contest, but they were beaten by the clock.
Josh Schache booted three goals on his return to the senior side, while Jack Macrae collected a match-high 42 disposals.
THE DEFINING MOMENTS
Collingwood’s third quarter burst tipped the scales in their favour. The Dogs led at half time and their up-tempo, pressure game was on song, but the Magpies absorbed it and controlled the majority of the term. Impressively though, the Bulldogs were able to stem momentum at different stages to keep them in the contest.
In the final quarter the Pies looked close to stretching away, but again the Dogs dug in and finished the game full of running with late majors to Sam Lloyd and Tory Dickson.
SHINING LIGHTS
It was the usual Bulldog suspects who lifted to put their side in with a chance of causing an upset against the Magpies.
The Dogs’ midfield brigade largely got the better of their highly fancied opponents, with Macrae, Josh Dunkley, Lachie Hunter, Pat Lipinski and Marcus Bontempelli all influential figures in the game.
Caleb Daniel, as he has done all season so far, consistently orchestrated forward attacks from deep in defence.
Schache showed some encouraging signs in his first game since Round 4,
STATS SHEET
Macrae was at his brilliant best, adding an equal career-high 13 tackles to his 42 touches and eight marks, at over 75% efficiency.
Daniel’s 30-plus possession game was his seventh of the season so far, while Bontempelli and Dunkley combined for 34 contested possessions.
From a team perspective, the Bulldogs were on the right side of the ledger when it came to overall disposals (+52), contested possessions (+4), uncontested possessions (+45), marks (+11), tackles (+3) and inside 50s (+15).
MATCH DETAILS
WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.3 5.7 7.11 10.13 (73)
COLLINGWOOD 4.1 5.2 10.4 13.4 (82)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Schache 3, Lloyd 2, Suckling, Lipinski, Dickson, Daniel
Collingwood: Phillips 2, De Goey 2, Reid 2, Grundy 2, Cox 2, Mihocek, Brown
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Daniel, Bontempelli, Dunkley, Schache, Suckling
Collingwood: Grundy, Treloar, Crisp, De Goey, Sidebottom, Reid
Official crowd: 39,836 at Marvel Stadium
NEXT WEEK
Round 15, Port Adelaide v Western Bulldogs, Saturday June 29, Adelaide Oval, 7.40pm.
