Melbourne superstar Kysaiah Pickett kicked a goal in the final minute to seal a thrilling eight-point victory over Collingwood in a cracking King's Birthday clash. In a topsy-turvy final quarter, both sides had multiple chances before Pickett finally iced it with a brilliant goal.
The Demons were clinging onto a two-point lead when Pickett marked with under 40 seconds on the clock inside forward 50. That would normally be game over, but instead of taking his 30 seconds, he made the surprise decision to quickly play on and kick the goal. Had he missed, he would have given the Pies one final chance.
"Wow. He could have taken the full 30 seconds and iced the game ... he has (iced it) anyway," Nick Riewoldt said. Hamish McLachlan added: "Does that make any sense what he just did?"
It capped a rollercoaster match for Pickett, who kicked the first two goals of the match to get the MCG rocking. But he also spurned two late chances to seal the match before finally doing so with the last-minute snap. He had a set shot from 20m out that failed to make the distance and also kicked one on the full while streaming into an open goal.
Down the other end, Jordan De Goey had the chance to put the Pies in front but his set shot drifted wide. The Demons were trailing by five points at three-quarter time, but Bayley Fritsch put them in front with two goals before Collingwood immediately hit back through Angus Anderson. Paddy Cross then put the Demons back in front in the 11th lead change of the match.
There was still seven minutes left on the clock at that stage, but the Demons successfully milked a few minutes with some possession football. Pickett had the chance to almost seal it for the Demons with a brilliant intercept mark, but his set-shot snap from just 20m out failed to make the distance. De Goey then had his moment before Pickett finally sealed it in the final minute.
Pickett was awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy for his three goals and 28 touches.
