The Western Bulldogs continued their push towards a premiership on this day in 2016, with a plucky, come-from-behind win over Collingwood.

After a disappointing loss to the GWS Giants in Round 9, the Bulldogs were delicately placed on the ladder coming into their Round 10 Sunday afternoon match against the Magpies.  A win would see the Dogs pushing for a place in the top four, while another loss would put them in danger of slipping out of the top eight. 

Collingwood, meanwhile, was looking to climb into the eight, and it soon became apparent that the Magpies wouldn't be giving the Dogs an easy time of it. 

The Dogs started perfectly when Jack Macrae, Jack Redpath and Tory Dickson combined to score the first goal of the match in the opening minute.  But the Pies responded soon after, setting up a contest that would remain tight until well into the last quarter.

Collingwood led narrowly at the first two breaks, by a point at quarter time and five points at the half, and in in the third quarter the Pies jumped out to a 15-point break.  The Bulldogs were under severe pressure at that stage, before late goals to Marcus Bontempelli and Luke Dahlhaus cut the deficit back to three points at the last change of ends.

An early last-term major to Josh Dunkley gave the Bulldogs the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the match but Adam Treloar responded not long after to put the Pies back in front.

The Bulldogs came again, though.  Dickson's second major restored the Dogs' lead and stand-in skipper Easton Wood followed up with a beautiful long captain's goal on the run.  Wood's goal put the Dogs eight points clear, but the game was far from over.

Almost eight scoreless minutes of tough and tight football followed before a booming goal from Matt Suckling from outside 50 took the margin out to 14 points heading into time on.  Jack Redpath eliminated any remaining doubts about the result with his second goal of the match at 22-minute mark, and the Bulldogs eventually prevailed by 21 points, a margin which belied just how tight a match it had been.

Dahlhaus led from the front in a 37-touch three-vote performance, while Macrae (32 possessions and 10 tackles) and Tom Liberatore (31 disposals, 6 tackles) were also dominant.  As well as kicking an inspirational final-quarter goal, Wood repelled many a Magpie attack, taking a game-high 13 marks, earning him two Brownlow votes.

It was a gritty win by the Dogs, although it's important to note that Collingwood was severely hampered by injuries as the match unfolded, finishing the match with no fit men on the bench.

Of course, as the 2016 season went on, the Bulldogs would face many injury challenges too, pushing through them all to win a famous flag.