Magpies win in front of worst crowd in 76 years
AAP
Collingwood’s worst MCG crowd in 76 years has watched the Magpies snap their three-game AFL losing streak at Fremantle’s expense.
Only 20,320 fans braved the worst of Melbourne weather on Friday night as Collingwood dominated the Dockers from the start and won 12.13 (85) to 5.7 (37).
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The Dockers were a shadow of the team that had won their previous three matches after starting the year with 10 straight losses.
By the last quarter, as the rain fell, the temperature was just six degrees and the apparent temperature was at three.
Travis Cloke managed two goals in atrocious conditions.
The weather, combined with Collingwood’s poor form leading into the game and the closure of the MCG car parks because of the extended wet spell, all contributed to the low crowd.
The last time Collingwood had a 20,000 crowd at the MCG was 1940, in the midst of Word War II.
Defender Ben Reid was solid all night for Collingwood, while at the other end Dockers counterpart Sam Collins impressed in his fifth match.
Fremantle only kicked 1.4 to half-time – their equal-lowest score in the first half since Ross Lyon took over as coach before the 2012 season.
They rallied with two goals to nil in the third term and when captain Matthew Pavlich kicked his second goal at the start of the last quarter, the margin was only 22 points.
But Collingwood went on a five-goal tear to put the result beyond doubt.
Magpies key forward Travis Cloke kicked two goals on his recall and took seven marks.
Dockers forward Jack Hannath had a terrible night, with two glaring errors in the third term.
SCOREBOARD: COLL v FREO
12.13 (85) | Collingwood v Fremantle | 5.7 (37) |
---|---|---|
at MCG, June 24 2016 | ||
405 | Disposals | 359 |
36 | Clearances | 30 |
65 | Inside 50 | 37 |
85 | Tackles | 88 |
Magpies: M Cox 2, T Cloke 2, J White 2, A Treloar, T Phillips, J Aish, J de Goey, L Greenwood, J SmithDockers: H Ballantyne 2, M Pavlich 2, M Walters |