Collingwood will remain in the top-four at the conclusion of Round 14 after notching its ninth win for the season and squaring the ledger with Essendon in season '09.

The Bombers started the game well in front of over 77,000 at the MCG, but a seven-goal-to-one burst in the second term for Collingwood gave Mick Malthouse’s side control of the contest and what proved to be a match-winning 34-point advantage at the main break.

The Pies did enough in a fairly scrappy second half to complete a very convincing 15.12 (102) to 9.13 (67) victory – Collingwood's sixth in a row.

Dane Swan and Josh Fraser were the chief destroyers for Collingwood, with the former likely to do his Brownlow Medal hopes no harm and the latter making amends after lowering his colours to Essendon ruckman Paddy Ryder on ANZAC Day.

Swan finished with 29 possessions and a goal, while Fraser gathered 23 possessions, won 35 hit-outs and kicked an important major late in the third term which snuffed out any hopes Essendon had of another miraculous comeback.

Harry O'Brien's name must be figuring prominently in discussions among those selecting the All Australian side, the Pies defender tonight keeping Alwyn Davey quiet and setting up many forward thrusts for the Pies.

Reliable Pies defender Simon Prestigiacomo held Matthew Lloyd to two goals and other good players for Collingwood included; Nick Maxwell, Alan Didak, Dale Thomas and Travis Cloke who kicked three four goals from 19 disposals and nine marks.

Cloke's improved effort will give hope to Pies fans dreaming of September glory – the forward crucial in Collingwood's plans for an assault on the premiership.

Adam McPhee and Brent Prismall won plenty of the Sherrin for Essendon but had little influence after quarter-time. Scott Lucas led the Bombers with three goals.

In fairness to Lloyd, he tried all night and finished with respectable stats next to his name (13 possessions, 10 marks, 2.1). Brent Stanton had 29 possessions.

But there are few Bomber players who could say they held their own, with Andrew Lovett's decision-making questionable at best for the duration and Ryder and Cale Hooker having no answers for the dominant Fraser in the ruck and around the ground.

Angus Monfries didn't kick a goal after slamming trough five against Carlton and he finished the game on the bench with what appeared to be an injury.

In terms of possession, it was all Essendon early in the match but the Bombers couldn't hurt the Pies on the scoreboard. Lloyd's miss from 30 metres out directly in front on eight minutes was symbolic.

Prismall and McPhee were racking up possessions at will through the centre and across half-back, but it took 11 minutes for the game's first goal to be registered courtesy of a Lucas set-shot.

But for all their efforts, the Bombers led by just two points after Thomas found space in the forward 50 after a turnover and kicked Collingwood's first major 14 minutes in.

Essendon hit back after some great forward pressure was finished off with a skilful banana kick from Davey before Cloke added another Pies goal from another Bomber turnover.

Before quarter-time, Sam Lonergan and Kyle Reimers missed chances for Essendon while Swan wasted one for the Pies as the Bombers led 2.6 to 2.3 at the first change.

The 3AW Football experts wondered if Essendon's wasteful term would haunt it – and it didn't take long to find out as Collingwood's harder bodies started exerting their influence on proceedings to give the Pies control of the contest.

In a rampant second term for the Pies, Didak and Swan had no trouble finding the ball – Swan in particular damaging with his 16 touches and one goal in the first half.

With Matthew Knights starting Ryder out of the goalsquare for large chunks of the quarter, Fraser took advantage of his match-up with Hooker as the Pies started winning first possession out of the middle.

Cloke (three goals in the half) and Anthony (one goal) started to look very dangerous and O'Brien was mopping up well across half-back but also proving useful as an attacking player such was the precision and depth of his disposal.

The Pies slotted two miraculous soccer-style goals in the term – from Cloke and Thomas (the latter's appeared to be touched off the boot by Dustin Fletcher) – as Essendon succumbed to Collingwood's brilliant pressure.

Lovett, so often a problem for opposition coaches, was a Magpie ally with his fancy but ineffective foot-skills (five turnovers in the half) proving costly for the Bombers time and again.

By half-time, Collingwood had built a commanding 9.6 (60) to 3.8 (26) lead and it looked a long way back for the young Bombers.

Reimers, who had changed from regulation black footy boots to some kind of iridescent pink footwear, booted the first goal of the third term three minutes in as Essendon pulled to within 28 points.

The game was then reduced to a stop-start spectacle with Collingwood players flooding back into Essendon's attacking 50 for most of the next 10 or 15 minutes - this move effective for the Pies.

By quarter's end, the sides had split three goals apiece. But importantly, the Pies booted the last two goals – one of these a classic rover's effort from Brad Dick who showed poise on his non-preferred foot – as Collingwood carried a six-goal lead into the final term.

Collingwood (9-5, fourth) face a tough match-up with the Bulldogs next Friday night at Etihad Stadium while Essendon (7-7, seventh at the moment) travels to Sydney to take on the Swans next Saturday night.

Robert Walls' votes:
3 Josh Fraser
2 Alan Didak
1 Dane Swan

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Your home for breaking AFL news, views and anaylsis from Melbourne's No.1 team of Rex Hunt, Dennis Cometti, Robert Walls, Nathan Buckley, Graeme Bond, Denis Pagan, Tony Leonard, Shane Healy, Tony Shaw, David King, Scott Cummings, Caroline Wilson, Mike Sheahan, Rohan Connolly, Nick Butler and Shane McInnes.