A controversial umpiring decision has marred the final few seconds of Collingwood’s thrilling AFL win over North Melbourne.
Trailing by two points with under a minute left on the clock, North’s Bailey Scott took a mark on the wing but was not paid a 50-metre penalty when two Magpies players clearly ran over the mark, amid confusion over whether the ball had travelled far enough.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: North Melbourne denied 50-metre penalty in dying seconds of AFL thriller.
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“That’s got to be 50!” Anthony Hudson exclaimed on commentary.
“No 50 (is) egregious,” Matt Walsh said on social media. ‘
“The amount of 50s paid because some has slightly encroached the mark and then two players run straight over the mark and nothing? It’s laughable at this point,” someone else added.
“Genuinely zero explanation is possible for not paying the 50-metre penalty to Bailey Scott. Two players encroach the mark by in excess of five metres,” a third said.
A 50-metre penalty would have put Scott within scoring distance and given him the chance to kick what could have been a match-winning goal.
Instead Scott was made to take his kick, which went inside 50 and very nearly led to a match-winning goal anyway, but Zac Fisher’s flying snap at goal just barely missed, leaving the Kangaroos one point down when the final siren went just seconds later.
Asked about the incident after the game, North coach Alastair Clarkson was more worried about giving up a 54-point lead than an umpiring decision in the final minute.
“The umpires make hundreds of decisions a game. It just feels more pivotal at that point,” he said.
“The bottom line is it should never have got to that position.”
It was the Kangaroos’ most impressive performance of the year until the final-quarter capitulation, but Clarkson said the positives are clear.
“We were able to show that we could put it together against a really, really good side … and we’re disappointed we let such a significant margin get whittled away,” Clarkson said.
“At the bye, we had a chance as a club to reflect. We wanted to give ourselves a chance to be in the contest more.
“We won a close one last week, and we lost a close one this week. Collingwood have been here 40-50 times. The learning for our lads will be profound.”
Magpies coach Craig McRae was impressed with North Melbourne’s game.
“That really was a struggle,” Pies coach McRae said.
“There’s so many layers to it, with North Melbourne’s incredible want and desire and youthful enthusiasm.
“They played right to the level of a team that’s not down the bottom.”
Daicos overcame a leg injury during the week and almost missed the match through illness, but starred with 29 disposals, six clearances and two crucial third-quarter goals despite close attention from Will Phillips for three quarters.
Jack Crisp (27 touches, six clearances), Steele Sidebottom (23, six) and Josh Daicos (20, four) were also important, while Hill finished with five goals and fellow small forward Lachie Schultz kicked four.
Brayden Maynard produced a desperate late spoil to deny Nick Larkey a mark, celebrating his 200th Collingwood appearance in fine style.
Larkey kicked four goals for North Melbourne — all of them in a red-hot first quarter — as new rising star favourite George Wardlaw (30 disposals, six clearances) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (31, seven) shone in the midfield.
Cameron Zurhaar kicked three goals for the Kangaroos, who had a sense of deja vu when they relinquished a huge lead in the final quarter.
Like the previous week against West Coast, they hit the front again when mid-season recruit Brynn Teakle accepted a gift from Larkey in the goal square to mark his club debut with a goal.
But this time they couldn’t hold on, with Hill’s fifth major ultimately deciding the contest.
Not even a ground invader could halt Collingwood’s momentum as they surged over the top in the final term.
– With AAP