By Bruno Visentini
The Coburg Lions went into Sunday’s game off the back of 23 consecutive losses. The last win came in Round 19 of 2022, and only 6 players from that game lined up for the Round 4 clash against Collingwood at Piranha Park. Today however, the Lions pulled off a remarkable upset to walk out 15-point winners and sing the team song together for the first time in 630 days.
It was a streak that included nailbiters and thrashings alike, and the Lions came close to snapping it in their last game before the Seagulls kicked a goal after the siren to win by 6 points in Round 2. But rather than let such a close loss put them off their game, the Lions turned that disappointment into the fuel that would power them past a Magpies outfit that sat 2-1 heading into this match.
A healthy crowd packed into Piranha Park with the loyal Coburg fanbase in full force as usual, and Collingwood’s fans were in abundance after their senior side celebrated a win over Port Adelaide on Saturday. The clear blue skies certainly wouldn’t have put anyone off attending and it set the stage for a fantastic day of footy as Jesse Corigliano won the toss and chose to kick to the Harding Street end of the ground.
As well as ending such a large losing streak, the game marked the first win under the supervision of Senior Coach Jamie Cassidy-McNamara, and plenty of players were able to celebrate their first win in a Lions uniform. The win was also Coburg’s first over Collingwood since 2012, a time prior to the Lions becoming a standalone outfit.
Collingwood had the run of play early but struggled to convert against a desperate Coburg backline, putting four behinds on the scoreboard before they were able to score their first goal. Their first goal wasn’t easy to come by though, with Ben Crocker kicking it after 14 minutes following a quick piece of end-to-end play.
Coburg were next to get on the board when Josh D’Intinosante kicked a goal a couple minutes later, but Collingwood put the lead back out to 10 points when Josh Carmichael scored his first. Momentum swung towards the Lions shortly after and a pair of set shots to Sam Grant and Braedyn Gillard gave the Lions the lead which they kept for the remainder of the quarter, leading with an accurate 3.0 (18) to Collingwood’s 2.5 (17).
That momentum transferred over to the second quarter briefly as the Lions took a mark inside 50 within a minute, but they struggled to do anything meaningful in the beginning. After 2 behinds to Coburg, Collingwood kicked two consecutive goals and regained the lead. A goal to Caleb Ernst from a set shot shrunk the lead, but Collingwood’s Jack Hutchinson countered it shortly after when he flew for a massive screamer and converted his set shot.
The Lions took back control of the contest and kept pressing forward, first only netting three behinds before Kyle Weightman put Coburg in front and Sam Grant extended the lead to 7 points off the end of some slick ball movement. Not too long before the term ended, Ned Long kicked a goal and it kept Collingwood within striking distance at the main break. Coburg held a small 3-point lead with the scored at 6.8 (44) to 6.5 (41).
At the half, Coburg were leading in a number of stats that ideally should’ve led to a bigger margin with more of the footy and massive leads in stats like Inside 50s (33-18) and clearances (23-9) but Collingwood had taken more marks (55-36) and laid far more tackles (43-20) to keep themselves firmly in the contest. Accuracy-wise, the second quarter left more to be desired by the Lions having scored 3.8 to 4.0 and perhaps not making use of how much better they had been during the second term.
The second half got underway, and it didn’t begin as much of a scoring-fest. Collingwood scored a rushed behind after 5 minutes, but the first goal went Coburg’s way after more than 10 minutes. Cooper Keogh earned a free kick in the pocket and calmly converted it, much to the delight of the Coburg fans seated in the terrace near him.
Collingwood were the inaccurate side this quarter as they managed four behinds in a row and less than a minute after their last behind, they were down at the other end of the ground when Joel Trudgeon kicked his first goal of the day. A second Josh D’Intinosante goal gave the Lions an 18-point lead and for the first time today, the Lions had some real breathing room. This was the moment where Lions fans in attendance dared to believe that today could be the day the streak was snapped.
The margin remained at 18 points at the final change, and it could’ve been less if not for a strong defensive effort in the dying seconds that prevented Ben Crocker from kicking Collingwood’s only goal of the third quarter. After how close the score had been at the previous breaks, the Lions would certainly have been happy to lead by so much, but the job was far from over with a quarter to play.
With so much on the line, both sides came out ready to fire. Coburg had the first chance to score but only managed to net a rushed behind, and less than a minute later Ben Crocker kicked his second goal to keep the Pies in the contest. Over the next 8 minutes, only one behind was scored by the Lions, but the moment that broke the game open was only just about to happen.
The next four minutes brought immense joy to the Coburg faithful, and it began when Hugo Bromell marked near the 50-metre line and kicked a set shot to push the lead to 20 points, the highest it had been all day. Luke Bailey then got his name onto the goalkickers list with his first of the day, and Braedyn Gillard joined them soon after when his kick split the middle of the posts.
Three goals in four minutes saw the margin sit at an impressive 32 points and despite almost half the term still to play, the lead seemed to be too big for Collingwood to chase down.
Collingwood went on to kick three more goals for the game, one of which was on the final siren, but it didn’t matter as Coburg were on the winners list for the first time since 2022. The final scores sat at Coburg 12.15 (87) to Collingwood 10.12 (72).
Joel Trudgeon was named Lion of the Round with 29 touches and a goal, as well 7 clearances and a match-high 10 tackles. Donovan Toohey saw plenty of the footy with 31 disposals to his name, while Lachlan Walker and Ryan Sturgess led the match for marks with 10 each.
Now that a maiden victory for 2024 has been checked off, the Lions have a quick turnaround before the next game on Friday night against Frankston at Kinetic Stadium. We hope to see as many Coburg fans and members at the game as the boys aim for a second win in a row.
Final Score
Coburg: 3.0 (18) | 6.8 (44) | 9.10 (64) | 12.15 (87)
Collingwood: 2.5 (17) | 6.5 (41) | 6.10 (46) | 10.12 (72)
Goals:
Coburg: D’Intinosante, Gillard, Grant (2), Bailey, Bromell, Ernst, Keogh, Trudgeon, Weightman (1)
Collingwood: Crocker, Hutchinson (2), Begg, Carmichael, Johnson, Lane, Long, Parker (1)
