Gold Coast Football Club has fallen short of a seasoned Collingwood by twenty points in a bruising wet weather scrap at Fankhauser Reserve, Southport this afternoon.

GCFC showed plenty of heart and had its chances a Magpies’ outfit top heavy with AFL talent, but in the end Collingwood’s bigger bodies, steadier heads and consistency helped it to a 7.16 (58) to 5.8 (38) win.

Big man Zac Smith again shone for GCFC in the ruck. Midfielders Sam Iles and Danny Stanley were impressive in their first game against their old club, and defenders Mitch Harley and Michael Coad were also good. Luke Russell kicked two goals.

The heavy track made life tough for both sides early. Collingwood scored the game’s first goal when youngster Scott Reed marked on a lead and kicked straight. But in conditions always better suited to larger Collingwood bodies, GCFC held its ground, and the home side’s desperation and physicality at both man and ball was creating plenty of opportunities.

GCFC’s work rate was rewarded when sustained ground level pressure after a Collingwood kick in forced a turnover and Danny Stanley took advantage for GCFC’s first. Swallow kicked another soon after with a great snap from a tight angle. But after that, other than a fortuitous goal to Collingwood forward Luke Rounds and a few sprayed shots from Leigh Brown, scoring for both sides dried up.

At the siren it was the Pies by just a few points after an absorbing, if slippery, first stanza.

Collingwood, perhaps jolted into action by GCFC’s committed opening, came out in the second term with plenty of run and purpose. Luke Rounds scored the visitor’s third after taking advantage of a poor GCFC defensive lapse and Scott Reed followed up with his second - the Magpies’ fourth - to give the Pies a sixteen point break just three minutes in.

After that, the game was reduced to a stoppage-riddled wet weather dogfight with neither side able to break the other’s defensive shackles. GCFC were the first to crack when Collingwood’s Pat Liston finished a relatively rare fluent attack forward. The Pies threatened to break the game open a minute later when Tarkyn Lockyer marked twenty out dead in front and the chance to all but blow out the margin on the stroke of half time. Inexplicably, though, he missed.

So at the main break it was the Pies by 22, a fair margin in the damp conditions, but by no means insurmountable if GCFC could find a way to finish in attack.

The third term started well for the locals. Rex Liddy had a chance to set the tone when he led strongly to the arc and marked, but his shot faded right for a point. Within seconds, though, the ever-improving Ablett’s hard work inside forward fifty was rewarded with a goal from a fifty metre penalty. All of a sudden GCFC had gained the early momentum and, importantly, brought the margin to within three straight kicks.

But luck’s a fortune. When Liddy fumbled a mark near the goal square and GCFC lost a near certain chance to get within twelve, Collingwood rebounded though the corridor, Ah Chee lost a foot race to the pocket, and the more than handy Luke Rounds managed to hook back a miraculous snap from a near impossible angle to push out the Magpies’ lead to a game-high 26 points. GCFC wouldn’t lie down, and managed to mount several promising attacking raids in the shadows of three quarter time, but despite all the good work, Charlie Dixon and Luke Russell both failed to convert gettable chances. At the final change, it was Collingwood by a seemingly insurmountable four goals.

No one told the reliable Luke Russell, though. When he goaled from long range early in the last the small but willing Southport crowd suddenly had something to cheer about. But Collingwood hit back straight away to keep the margin manageable and dampen faint local hopes. In the end, with scoring opportunities limited, the clock running down, and GCFC players labouring on heavy legs, the task of hauling in an impressively even Collingwood proved too great

GCFC 2.3 (15) 2.5 (17) 3.7 (25) 5.8 (38)
Collingwood 2.7 (19) 5.9 (39) 6.13 (49) 7.15 (58)

Goals: Luke Russell (2), Danny Stanley, David Swallow, Nathan Ablett.
Best: Zac Smith, Mitch Harley, Michael Coad, Hayden Jolly, Danny Stanley, Sam Iles