First quarter: Collingwood 6.5 (41) to Melbourne 1.3 (9)
Collingwood dominated the first term, leading by 32 points at quarter-time.
Tom Phillips kicked his side's first at the two-minute mark and from that point, the Magpies took control.
The Pies had 11 scoring shots to four, and booted six goals to one.
Christian Petracca landed Melbourne’s only major for the term at the 14-minute mark.
Nathan Jones had nine touches for the Demons, as Magpie Jamie Elliott had 10 by the first change.
Second quarter: Collingwood 9.6 (60) to Melbourne 4.8 (32)
Melbourne started the second term as it needed to – with a goal from Jeff Garlett just 29 seconds in.
In fact, the Demons secured three of the first four goals to peg the margin back to 16 points at the 18-minute mark.
Jeff Garlett registered two for the term, while Jack Watts also kicked truly.
But Jamie Elliott bobbed up with a couple to have three by half-time, helping Collingwood to a 28-point lead.
To add to a frustrating first half for Melbourne, Jesse Hogan went off the ground with a hamstring injury and was done for the day.
Third quarter: Collingwood 12.10 (82) to Melbourne 9.10 (64)
Alex Neal-Bullen got the Demons off to a promising start in the second half, when he kicked his first a minute into the third term.
But when the Magpies answered with three in a row, they were out to a 35-point lead.
Just as the game started to look out of reach for the Demons, Melbourne hit back with the next four goals to reduce the deficit to 18 points at three quarter-time.
Jake Melksham booted two goals during that period, as Neal-Bullen and Petracca added their second each.
It set-up a nail-biting final term, given the stakes for Melbourne.
Final quarter: Collingwood 14.15 (99) d Melbourne 12.11 (83)
Mason Cox kicked the first goal of the final term to give Collingwood a 25-point lead at the eight-minute mark.
But when Mitch Hannan kicked Melbourne’s first for the quarter at the 10-minute mark, it sparked another comeback.
Melksham kicked his third a minute later and when Cam Pedersen slammed through his first, the Demons trailed by just eight points.
Three Collingwood behinds followed, before Will Hoskin-Elliott landed his second for the match – and his side’s second for the term. This put the Magpies up by 17 points at the 20-minute mark. But with just one more score for the rest of the match – a behind to Bernie Vince just before the final siren – Collingwood won by 16 points.
Melbourne will now have to wait until Sunday’s results to see if it plays off in this year’s finals series.
