Martin Clarke shines in Collingwood win

Former Down underage star Martin Clarke produced a man of the match performance as Collingwood registered an emphatic 134-48 victory over Geelong in their AFL clash on Friday night last.

It was a sensational result given that table-toppers Geelong hadn’t tasted AFL defeat since last August. Clarke was the inspiration behind Collingwood’s triumph, and his goal from 50 metres midway through the second half put them 39 points clear and well and truly out of sight.

While revealing that he wasn’t pleased to find Clarke had been playing football with his home club An Riocht during his Christmas holidays in Ireland, Collingwood manager Mick Malthouse was nevertheless thrilled with how he has responded since being dropped to the reserves earlier this season.

He said: "I was a little bit worried about Marty Clarke when he came back to us in pre-season because he went over for a holiday and came back with a championship cup, so the ’rest’ was playing football.

"I was a bit worried about burnout in the young boy, but it is not the case.

"He has a fantastic resolve and he has terrific stamina and can outlast most of our players