Pregame: Ripping day for it.

The pre-game ceremony doesn't change much from year to year, but it gets you in every time.

Peter Fitzsimons on the TV broadcast is interesting. And what is the point of the red bandana?

Much talk on the airwaves, not just today but the last few days about whether Essendon and Collingwood should have the day to themselves, at least in Melbourne. I think the tipping point might not be too far away and of all the ideas floated about an alternative, Tim Lane's has merit - whichever of Collingwood or Essendon finished the highest the previous year against the highest ranked Victorian team overall from the previous season. Had it been this year, it would have been a Collingwood-St Kilda Grand Final replay, certainly a worthy ANZAC Day match-up no matter who you ask.

Love the combined banner idea as well. Really good.

The tip: Collingwood by 15

First quarter:
So here's how the Dons plan to do it. Hille and Ryder playing two out up forward, with Bellchambers starting in the ruck. And why not? Bellchambers has been a star so far this year.
Gee that was a good clunking mark from Travis Cloke. Poor kick, though.
After 15 minutes, Pies up by 13, but the Dons have been better in general play.
20 minutes in and its the Pies by 18. They did the damage early last year as well, so the Dons need the next one. They nearly got it through Howlett, but he missed to the right.
There goes Jarryd Blair, nearly making it a four-goal lead for the Pies. Gives heart to little blokes everywhere.
There he goes again, great work in the goal square with the handball to Darren Jolly for the goal. Little known fact: Blair's grandfather is Joh O'Mahony, a fine Hawthorn player in the 1950s and a longtime club official.
Collingwood worked really hard in the first term. Lead by 23 at quarter-time.

Second Quarter
Jarryd Blair and Scott Pendlebury combine for Collingwood's fifth goal. Are there two more watchable players at Pie-land.
We just saw the first shots of James Hird looking perpelxed in the coaches box. He had better get used to it.
36% kicking efficiency a damning stat for the Bombers. So is the 76% of time in their forward line without a goal.
Bellchambers nice grab and goal. The plan works, at least this once.
And then Didak does a...Didak. What a freak. That will be soul-destroying for the Bombers.
Give a man a rap...Matty Lloyd praises Bellchambers and he kicks it on the full from a free kick.
Five minutes left in the quarter. Crameri gets the goal and it's just reward for a quarter in which the Bombers have blazed away and kept at it. Can they make it two on the trot and make it really interesting?
No. Because of a dumb free kick and goal to Chris Dawes. Well played, Dustin Fletcher, by laughing at Ray Chamberlain for paying such a soft, dumb free kick.
Watson gets it back to 20 points after a mark and goal. If the Dons can keep it to that to half-time, then it's a fair margin and makes for a good second half.
Bad miss by Jetta. Three behinds to a bloke who's there to kick goals.
Collingwood by 19 at half-time.

Third quarter
Hille finds his groove with a big mark and goal within two minutes. Margin 13 points. Do we have a game?
Now Crameri goals. The best footballer you wouldn't recognise if you saw him walking down the street. Margin back to eight points. Pies need to win a clearance.
Zaharakis! The Anzac Day Collingwood killer. Pies now by just two.
Luke Ball snaps a goal to give the Pies some breathing space and again we ask the question: Just what didn't Ross Lyon see in him that the rest of us do?
Now Jetta finds the goals. Back to two points. For the first time in 2011, Collingwood is being challenged.
Big few minutes as the Pies put the clamps on. They've stemmed the tide for just a bit and then they get the goal from the 'prototype' Leigh Brown. Back to seven points.
Cloke to Beams off the ground. Pies by 14 points. The really good teams find a way, don't they? It's not game over by any stretch, but the Dons have it all to do again.
When will the subs come into play. Reimers for Ryder (eight touches, no marks) might be a possibility for Essendon, although Bellchambers looks stuffed.

Monfries is to be subbed, after all. Dons still going tall.

Frantic finish to that quarter. Essendon's pressure outstanding, but they couldn't finish. Pies by 14. Dons can still win.

Final quarter

That man Crameri, yet again. Twenty seconds in and its back to eight points.
Dons won't go away. Hille uncontested mark and goal. Rare defensive lapse from the Pies. Two-point ball game.
Cloke marks and goals. Pies capitalise on a concentration lapse by Jetta with a quick forward entry. Back to a kick and a bit lead for the Pies, what the old Sporting Globe used to call a "handy lead".
Another to Cloke and the 15-point buffer is restored. Surely the Dons can't come back again? Hasn't Alan Didak gotten busy all of a sudden.
Four to Crameri and back to 10 points. Even if they don't win, the Dons are stamping themselves as a top-four side, you would think.
89,626 is the crowd and none could complain about the entertainment offered up this afternoon.
Ten minutes to go and Dawes marks to get it back to 16 points. Not sure the Dons can come back from here. Remarkable to think they've never led, even though it's been close and competitive throughout.
Cloke marks strongly. Wonderful aerobic fitness as he kicks what might be the sealer. Pies by 22 points.

Zaharakis goals. Back to 17 with seven minutes to go, and we all remember what happened here two years ago. Nice build up by the Bombers, but Paddy Ryder had to hold that mark. Pies clear as the clock ticks down.

Finally some sting out of the game, as Sidebottom runs in to kick another one. But the Bombers have been great today and have stood up really well. They just lack that bit of polish. Pendlebury goal after the siren. Collingwood 16.11 (107), Essendon 11.11 (77). Cracking game, far better than the margin would suggest and now we eagerly await the Hawks and Cats tomorrow to determine who might be the most legitimate challenger, at this stage.
Pendlebury gets the Anzac Medal for the second straight year. That's two Anzacs and one Norm Smith for the pool room.