Dyson Heppell says he’s proud of the way his team responded when Zach Merrett was felled in a collision with Collingwood’s Levi Greenwood.

Merrett was assisted from the field seven minutes into the third term and several teammates immediately remonstrated with Greenwood as the game threatened to boilover.

The Magpies kicked three quick goals to cut the margin to 15 points but the Dons responded with seven of the last 11 goals to run out 37-point winners.

“I think it’s important to fly the flag for your teammates but it was important not to get carried away in the push and shove,” Heppell said.

“We took our fury out on the contest … that’s where we got on top.

“Throughout that period it was quite important for us to put the foot down.”

Collingwood made the brighter start after the opening bounce, kicking the first two goals and dominating the possession count (62-35) in the opening 13 minutes of the match.

But the Bombers were able to arrest the Pies momentum, kicking five unanswered goals to take a 15-point lead into the first break.

“We changed a couple of things with our pressing mentality, preventing that overlap handball and we really got the game back on our terms midway through the first quarter,” Heppell said.

“Obviously the tide turned at stages in that game, they responded hard in the third quarter but it was great to stick to our brand of footy.”

The Bombers had ten players kick a goal led by Orazio Fantasia who booted five.

The side also had five players (David Zaharakis, Heppell, James Kelly, David Myers and Michael Hurley) record 30 or more disposals.

“I was really proud of the efforts today,” Heppell said.

“I thought the way we shared the ball, our shot selection … that shows our selfless brand of footy that I want to try and encourage.

“We’ve been challenged over the last couple of weeks and a couple of things had crept into our game that we wanted to stamp out straight away.

“I thought the attitude we came into this game with and our mindset was fantastic and it was a real team performance, so we’re stoked with that.”

The tenth placed Dons have a six-day break before taking on St Kilda on Friday night. 

“Each one from here on in is massive for us but it’s in our hands,” Heppell said.

“If we’re good enough we’ll get there [finals] and if not we’ll keep punching.”