May 11, 2003
COLLINGWOOD was losing for the
COLLINGWOOD was losing for the entire game. Sometimes they'd forge a string of goals against the flow of play, but Adelaide would always answer, usually loudly. Late in the first quarter they led by 31 points.
The second quarter was all Collingwood, four goals to one, but that first-quarter feast and a time-on goal to Carey allowed Adelaide to maintain a nine-point advantage at half-time. That extended to 28 points midway through the third, until another Pie rally (Didak running hard) reduced the margin to five.
A three-goal burst took Adelaide 22 points clear early in the final quarter. Match won? No; goals to Tarrant, Lonie (twice), O'Bree, and Scott Burns in the space of five or so minutes catapulted Collingwood to an improbable seven-point break with nine minutes remaining. Adelaide, urged on by 44,000 supporters, drew level via Mark Riccuito, then scrambled a point to again lead. That gap stood when the siren sounded. The game was done. Surely.
UPDATE. Adelaide's Scott Wickstein, with whom a bet was made, pays up. Lookin' good, Eddie!
Posted by Tim Blair at May 11, 2003 01:27 PM