North Melbourne’s Bailey Scott denied 50-metre penalty in dying seconds of thrilling loss to Collingwood

A controversial refereeing decision marred the last few seconds of the Collingwood exciting AFL won over North Melbourne.

Trailing by two points with less than a minute left on the clock, North’s Bailey Scott made a trail on the wing but missed a 50-metre penalty when two Magpies players clearly crossed the mark amid confusion over whether the ball had gone far enough.

WATCH ABOVE VIDEO: North Melbourne denied a 50-metre penalty in the final seconds of an AFL thriller.

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“That should be 50!” Anthony Hudson exclaimed on commentary.

“Not even 50 (is) frapping,” Matt Walsh said on social media. ‘

“The sum of 50s paid out because someone went slightly into the mark and then two players ran straight through the mark and nothing? It’s funny at this point,” someone else added.

“There is really zero explanation possible for not paying Bailey Scott’s 50m penalty. Two players go into the mark by more than five meters,” said a third.

A 50m penalty would have put Scott in scoring range and given him a chance to kick what could have been the winning goal.

Instead, Scott was forced to take his kick, which went inside 50 and almost resulted in a winning goal anyway, but Zach Fisher’s flying shot at goal narrowly missedleaving the Kangaroo one point down when the final siren sounded just seconds later.

Asked about the incident after the game, North coach Alistair Clarkson was more concerned about giving up a 54-point lead than a last-minute refereeing decision.

“Referees make hundreds of decisions per game. It just feels more important at this point,” he said.

“The bottom line is that he should never have gotten to this position.”

It was the Kangaroos’ most impressive performance of the year until the final quarter capitulation, but Clarkson said the positives were clear.

“We’ve been able to show we can put it together against a really, really good side … and we’re disappointed to have let such a significant margin slip,” Clarkson said.

“With the bye, we had a chance as a club to think. We wanted to give ourselves a chance to be more involved in the competition.

“We won close last week and lost close this week. Collingwood has been here 40-50 times. The learning for our boys will be profound.”

Magpies coach Craig McRae was impressed with North Melbourne’s performance.

“That was really tough,” Pies coach McRae said.

“There are so many layers, with the incredible drive and desire of North Melbourne and the youthful enthusiasm.

“They played right at the level of a team that’s not at the bottom.”

Dykos overcame a foot injury during the week and almost missed the game due to illness, but chipped in with 29 disposals, six clearances and two crucial goals in the third quarter despite close attention from Will Phillips for three quarters.

Jack Crisp (27 touches, six clearances), Steele Sidebottom (23, six) and Josh Dykos (20, four) were also important as Hill finished with five goals and his small forward Lachie Schultz kicked four.

Braden Maynard made a desperate late grab to deny Nick Larkey a mark, celebrating his 200th Collingwood appearance in fine style.

Larkey booted four goals for North Melbourne – all in a red-hot first quarter – with rising star new favorite George Wardlaw (30 disposals, six clearances) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (31, seven) shining in midfield.

Cameron Zurhaar kicked three goals for the Kangaroos, who had a sense of deja vu when they gave up a huge lead in the final quarter.

Like the previous week against West Coast, they hit the front again when mid-season rookie Bryn Tickle took a gift from Larkey in the goal area to mark his club debut with a goal.

But this time they couldn’t hold on, with Hill’s fifth major eventually deciding the contest.

Not even the ground invader could stop Collingwood’s momentum as they surged to the top in the final term.

– With AAP