Crows hold off Pies

IN A sign that pre-season performances aren't always an indication of what's to come, Adelaide has beaten Collingwood by four points in a heart-stopping round one clash at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

And forward Jason Porplyzia, who injured his shoulder against the Pies in round 15 last year, was central to two final-term passages of play in his side's 13.12 (90) to 13.8 (victory).

The game was in the balance in the last minute when Porplyzia bravely took possession on the half-back flank, essentially denying the Pies their final roll of the dice.

Just 10 minutes earlier, he kicked the deciding goal – one of just three shared by both sides for the term.

Apart from its hefty loss to Geelong in the NAB Cup grand final, Collingwood was impressive throughout the pre-season competition, while Adelaide was far less convincing – particularly in its first two games.

Collingwood officials and players had also declared 2009 could be the season that their club would push for the premiership.

This clash swung wildly – the Crows owned the first term, Collingwood came back strongly in the second and then came hard again in the third.

Thirteen points down at the main break, Collingwood kicked the next five goals before the Crows found three to square it up with a quarter to play.

The last term started as an arm wrestle and it took almost 14 minutes for either side to find the next goal. It came from Adelaide midfielder Chris Knights, who sent his side closer to beating Collingwood at the venue for the first time since 1998.

Bernie Vince ended with a career-high 33 possessions and 11 marks while evergreen veteran Tyson Edwards (28 possessions, 10 marks) was strong forward.

Patchy at times, Andrew McLeod (30 possessions) found his best when it mattered while Nathan van Berlo (22) and debutant Jared Petrenko (15) were also effective.

Scott Stevens (three goals) created some headaches for Simon Prestigiacomo in attack while Nathan Bock had the better of Travis Cloke all afternoon.

For Collingwood, Shannon Cox was its best defender and, though the midfield took a while to get going, Scott Pendlebury (29 possessions), Dane Swan (28), Shane O'Bree (28) and Tarkyn Lockyer (21) were all very good.

John Anthony was the Pies' most dangerous forward, finishing with two goals and a hand in others.

The Pies started almost perfectly; within a minute Cloke had the game's first goal after he was set up by Lockyer.

But that was their only possession inside 50 for the first 19 minutes as Adelaide took control. If not for the Crows' errant kicking in front of goal, it could have been far worse for the hosts.

McLeod and Edwards did as they pleased as the Crows booted five straight goals, two of those to Stevens.

If anyone was going to generate a reply, it was Alan Didak and he found Marty Clarke to keep the margin to 23 points at the first break.

It was a different story in the second quarter and whatever Mick Malthouse said to his charges had an instant effect.

The Pies went to a one-on-one structure in their forward line, which effectively shut McLeod down, and turned to hard tackling to swing the momentum.

Clarke kicked a second and Leon Davis read Adelaide's ruck work perfectly to slash the margin to 11, but a 50m penalty was called against Cloke to put Nathan Bock within range.

Thirteen points down, the Magpies turned it on in the third and their run – including two goals each to Paul Medhurst and captain Nick Maxwell – set up a comfortable 18-point lead.

It wasn't safe as Adelaide bit back hard, started by an unlikely source in Petrenko.

Pendlebury was Collingwood's only goalkicker in a nerve-wracking final term, with the conversions of Knights and Porplyzia ensuring an upset.

Collingwood     2.0   7.1   12.3   13.8 (86)
Adelaide     5.5   8.8   11.9   13.12 (90)

GOALS
Collingwood: Anthony 2, Clarke 2, Cloke 2, Maxwell 2, Medhurst 2, Davis, Swan, Pendlebury
Adelaide: Stevens 3, van Berlo 2, Porplyzia 2, Douglas, Walker, Bock, Dangerfield, Petrenko, Knights

BEST
Collingwood: Pendlebury, Swan, O'Bree, Cox, Davis, Lockyer, Maxwell
Adelaide: Edwards, McLeod, Vince, Bock, Goodwin, Stevens

INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
Adelaide: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Nicholls, Schmitt, Meredith

Official crowd: 41,591 at the MCG

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