THE GOAL kicked by Adelaide's Josh Jenkins seemingly after the third term had ended didn't affect the final result, says Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.
Jenkins received an over-the-top handball from teammate Sam Kerridge in the dying seconds of the third quarter and kicked the ball after the time clock had reached zero, but before the umpires heard the siren.
The goal stood, offering the Crows a crucial 14-point lead at the final change.
Neither Crows coach Brenton Sanderson or Buckley heard the siren, the second time this year a siren at Adelaide Oval has been so quiet it has confused those directly involved in the game.
Against Geelong in round six, Port Adelaide's Robbie Gray decided to pass the ball having not heard the half-time siren, rather than have a shot at goal from 50m.
But Buckley was adamant that any momentum the Crows might have garnered from the controversial goal was eclipsed by the confidence they would have received from Collingwood's one-goal second half.
"It wasn't the difference in the game … we only kicked one goal in the second half, I think that gave them more of a kick along," Buckley said.
"Josh Jenkins is running into an open goal, so from a balance of fairness, Adelaide had built the attack and had a player running into an open goal – now if the siren had gone, so what?
"It didn't affect the flow of the game, it didn't affect the momentum of the game."
Buckley said he hoped the soft siren on Thursday night meant the situation would be quickly fixed.
"I thought we had buzzers in umpires’ pockets and all of that stuff, but this is how things evolve, circumstances occur and you go, ‘gee we could do better than that' and then you do something about it," he said.
Ultimately, Buckley said the final 21-point margin came down to the Crows outplaying his side across key areas.
The underdogs out-worked and out-pressured their more fancied opponents.
"It was sub-par for us but Adelaide were very strong in areas we've been strong in," he said.
"They out-pressured us, they used the ball better, they ran harder – you're going to win most games of footy when you control those elements of the game."
