Efficient Collingwood put six past struggling Stephenson

On paper, Collingwood’s six-goal defeat of Stephenson reads like a thrashing of the highest order. However, instead of despair, Stevo will more likely be consumed by frustration; and instead of delight, Collingwood can give themselves a modest pat on the back for a job well done.
Stephenson had the lion’s share of possession throughout the game, and, at times, passed the ball in the midfield with a verve that Collingwood barely hinted at.
However, not once did Stephenson have a true, worked, clear-cut scoring opportunity, whilst every time their opponents had possession, it felt like only a matter of seconds would go by before the excellent Phil Critchley netted his next goal.
The seeds of this defeat were evident within the first five minutes. Stephenson’s midfield and defence appeared so committed to pressing the ball that they lost all their positional sense, so while Collingwood had trouble finding space to run with the ball, a decent pass could bypass the stretched defence.
Even before the first goal went in, the game had settled into the pattern it would assume for most of the ninety minutes: decent spells of midfield possession for Stephenson with no end product, followed by the Hill college winning the ball and promptly playing low, long balls up to their front pair, who shouldered off their markers with aplomb before placing the ball past the ‘Stevo’ keeper.
Midfielder Adam Winchester grabbed the first in the twelfth minute this way, seconds after it looked as if Stephenson might have a handle on the match. Six minutes later, Critchley similarly turned his man in sublime style before bagging the first of his three goals.
The rest of the half followed a similar pattern, with Collingwood’s midfield having virtually no time on the ball, but doing damage with it, while Stevo’s followed the dynamic example of their excellent Ken Acar, running aggressively at Collingwood with the ball at their feet.
However, with a pair of strikers nowhere near as effective as their opponents’, all this possession ultimately came to absolutely nothing. Collingwood were happy to sit back for the rest of the half, safe in the knowledge that Stevo simply didn’t have the tools to break down their well-drilled defence. To make matters worse for Stepehenson, Phil Critchley capitalised on a defensive error after forty-one minutes to give them the worst possible end to the first half.
A minute after the restart, Critchley gently stroked home a cross from the left – his third goal – effectively ending any hopes their opposition might have held for a comeback.
Stephenson looked far sharper in the following minutes and produced their best chances of the game, but once again, a Collingwood goal, this time from Williams, took the wind from their sails after fifty-three minutes.
A sixth goal was slotted in by Will Bates in the closing minutes, making it thirteen goals in the past two games for Collingwood, and seven points in the league so far.
Stephenson, however, remain without a single point and will hope that their future opponents are more forgiving than the eminently accomplished side they faced today.