Collingwood's season remains alive after they recorded a stirring 31-point victory over Adelaide in the Elimination Final at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.

The Magpies went into the clash underdogs after losing to Fremantle in Round 22 but bounced back and played liked premiership contenders - they broke free of the Crows in the final quarter to win 19.11 (125) to 14.10 (94).

It was a game of swinging momentum with the home side opening up a four-goal buffer late in the second term.

But Collingwood's skills were better under pressure across the ground while Chris Dawes and John Anthony's solid performances in attack were critical to the result.

The Magpies will play either Geelong or St Kilda in the second week of finals.

It was a disappointing end to the season for the Crows who this time last week thought they had secured fourth spot. It's the second year in a row the South Australian side has been knocked out in the first week of finals.

Dawes and Anthony kicked three goals each while Dane Swan, Leon Davis and Dale Thomas were creative and found plenty of the ball.

Scott Stevens was the outstanding performer for the home side with six opportunist goals.

It was all Magpies in the first 15 minutes of the clash with their hunger for the footy and pressure on their opponent giving them the edge.

They quickly had three goals on the board while the Crows were shaky with the running Andrew McLeod and Scott Thompson getting tackled from behind representing their disappointing opening.

The Crows did fight back however and Stevens kicked their first major at the 18-minute mark. Tyson Edwards then kicked a long goal after the siren to reduce the margin to 13 points at the first change.

Adelaide continued its improvement in the second term and got the crowd involved with running goals to Graham Johncock and Andrew McLeod.

And when Stevens took a strong mark and converted from close range the Crows were in front for the first time.

It proved to be the former Sydney player's term as he chimed in with another two majors and set Ivan Maric up for another.

But the Pies, who were out of the contest, rediscovered the quick-moving game that provided their early success. Dane Swan was the main benefactor - he bobbed up with a pair of goals during time-on to narrow the margin to just 12 points at the long break.

The game changed complexion again as long majors to Nick Maxwell and Anthony saw the teams level pegging at 60 points.

It sparked a dominant term by the visitors who displayed supreme execution by hand and foot across the park.

They kicked seven majors for the term and could've been further in front if Travis Cloke, Davis and Marty Clarke had converted reasonable chances in attack.

But they did finish on a high - a Josh Fraser tap-down was snared by Thomas who quickly put ball to boot and wobbled the ball home just seconds before the siren. The morale-boosting team effort gave them a 20-point buffer at the final change.

The Crows weren't finished yet and scored three of the first four majors of the final term, including two to Stevens.

They were within seven points midway through the term but the Pies steadied thanks to hard-running of Thomas and the creativity of Paul Medhurst.

Medhurst set up Anthony for