RETRO guernseys, a count-up clock, a braying crowd, and a frosty evening at the MCG. It was a throwback in all the right ways.

It didn't matter that it was ninth v 12th, Collingwood v Carlton on Saturday night delivered in spades. 

And the 14.6 (90) to 10.9 (69) result, the Pies' way, keeps the side well and truly in the finals race.

MAGPIES v BLUES Full match coverage and stats

Collingwood came in with the intention to pressure, and pressure hard. It left the Blues suffocating, forced into unrealistic dump kicks or stray handballs flung over the head that simply passed on the stress.

The physicality might have been coming from those donning the black and white, but unfortunately for Harry McKay, it was teammate Sam Walsh who did the most damage. Just minutes into the match, McKay was forced from the field after a knee-on-knee collision with Walsh, with the incident ultimately ending the forward's evening.

That left Brodie Kemp and Mitch McGovern to pick up the slack up forward, and George Hewett and Patrick Cripps supporting Liam Reidy in the ruck.

It didn't help that Darcy Cameron (39 hitouts, eight clearances, 18 disposals) was outstanding, handling the ruck with aplomb before spreading expertly to impact in the air. The Pies often relied on him to compete for the long down-the-line kick, and compete he did.

McKay wasn't the only Blue to go down, with Adam Cerra ruled out in the third quarter due to a hamstring concern.

They traded blows in the first half – first the Pies dobbed three, then the Blues – as the ball pinged from end to end. As the chill settled in, it became somewhat of a scrap. And then Nick Daicos (36 disposals, 579 metres gained) got the ball, and it became fast and clean.

Daicos' well-known capacity to stay involved in a transition, starting the chain and regaining possession along the sprint down the ground, was on show and forced Carlton's midfield to become more accountable.

That momentum continued to swing as the game wore on, but the Pies were simply better at capitalising when they did win control.

Hewett (26 disposals, seven clearances) largely picked up the role, despite a back concern limiting his game time last week, but the Collingwood midfield craftily did what it could to separate the two.

Every time it seemed like Collingwood had taken the game by the scruff of the neck, Carlton hit back. It wasn't necessarily pretty, and it might have included some umpire intervention, but the Blues came to life halfway through the third term to take back the lead.

Somewhat guilty of not being damaging with his touches across the first half, Walsh (25 disposals, one goal) got busy after the main break, taking more ground with his touches and trying to challenge his direct opponent to defend him out of stoppage.

It was unfortunately sent to a forward line that struggled to make the most of the opportunities created, unable to convert and really bite back on the scoreboard.

Beau McCreery was out to exert himself on the contest – and the opposition – physically, but it took some time to find the balance, having given up two free kicks in the space of a minute in the first term because of late hits. He and Blue Nic Newman had words after a third hit in the first term, as McCreery found the line.

After which, the Pie got productive, with two goals and offering a real presence in the attacking half.

In the end, the tide just became too much for the Blues, as their desperation and mounting pressure left them panicked, giving up sloppy free kicks from which Collingwood capitalised.

19 on the field?
Collingwood may have gotten away with 19 players on the field for a brief moment in the second term due to an interchange mishap. As the club celebrated a Beau McCreery goal, the Pies had Josh Daicos and Darcy Cameron head onto the field in place of just one player. Soon after, Liam Puncher came from the field to get them back to the 18 in play. While it is seemingly inconsequential – there was no active play while the club had the extra on the field – it is arguably a more serious infringement than GWS midfielder Finn Callaghan's back in round 16, whereby he ran on the field from the wrong side of the painted interchange, giving up a 50m penalty and ultimately a goal in the side's loss to Hawthorn.

Mark? Or out on the full?
Directly in front of a braying Collingwood crowd, Carlton forward Will Hayward took a mark tight up against the boundary line late in the second term. Or did he? As the mark was paid, crowd jeered furiously, sure that it was taken well over the paint. Three umpired came together for a conference and – rightly – turned the ball back over to Pie Brayden Maynard, deemed out on the full.

Frustration for Harry
Mere minutes into the clash, as Collingwood was showing its attacking wares, Carlton spearhead Harry McKay came from the ground with a left knee complaint following some friendly fire from Sam Walsh. Frustrated, he went into the rooms, and emerged sometime later without any visible strapping, but spent the rest of the quarter on the stationary bike next to the bench. It was ultimately decided that he would take no further place in the game.

COLLINGWOOD       3.0   6.2   11.4 14.6  (90)
CARLTON                 2.4   4.6   8.8.  10.9  (69)

GOALS 
Collingwood: Membrey 3, McStay 2, McCreery 2, Long 2, West, De Goey, Swadling, Houston, Anderson
Carlton: McGovern 2, Ainsworth 2, Cripps 2, Kemp, Smith, Walsh, Cottrell 

BEST 
Collingwood: Cameron, N.Daicos, McCreery, Membrey, Houston, Anderson
Carlton: Walsh, Smith, Cripps, Dean, Haynes

INJURIES 
Collingwood: Nil
Carlton: McKay (left knee), Cerra (right hamstring)

Crowd: 83,885 at the MCG