West Coast has bowed out of the 2020 finals series in heartbreaking fashion, going down to Collingwood by a single point at Optus Stadium.

In a game that featured an astonishing seven lead changes, the Magpies prevailed 12.4 (76) to 11.9 (74) in a contest that came down to the wire.

Trailing by 13 points with seven minutes left on the clock, West Coast mounted a spirited comeback that started when Andrew Gaff executed a textbook smother in the Eagles’ attacking 50 and got the ball to Liam Ryan, who hit star forward Josh Kennedy with a laser-like pass.

Kennedy converted the goal and West Coast were rolling.

When Jack Darling copped a head-high hit and converted from directly in front the margin was whittled down to one and the result hinged on the next centre bounce battle.

After several scuffles and a ridiculous bounce that had the ball wind up in Jeremy McGovern's hands, West Coast surged forward and looked certain to pump the Sherrin into their attacking zone.

But a quick inside handball put defender Tom Cole in strife, Collingwood won the ball back and moved it down the opposite end of the field until the final siren sounded and signalled the end of West Coast’s brave charge.

All Australian ruckman Nic Naitanui (24 hitouts, 17 disposals) was a force to be reckoned with, winning his much-hyped battle with Brodie Grundy, and Gaff was the club’s most productive midfielder with 24 disposals.

West Coast's other two All Australians, Brad Sheppard and Liam Ryan, were also among the home side’s strongest performers.

Josh Kennedy (three goals) did everything possible to will his team over the line, as did his sidekick Jack Darling (three goals).

Liam Duggan (20 disposals, five marks) and Shannon Hurn (17 disposals, six marks) were solid as a rock down back, deflecting counting attacking raids by the inspired Pies.

Both teams started the match in a shaky fashion, fumbling simple ground balls and easy marks.

Liam Duggan was influential in the opening exchanges, collecting a disposal per minute in the first eight minutes.

And he played a part in the game’s opening goal, streaming through the corridor and finding a free Brayden Ainsworth, who hit a leading Jack Darling on the chest 50m from home.

The two-time Eagles' leading goal-kicker coolly slotted the set shot and the home side appeared to have all the momentum.

But that was brought to a halt when star backman Jeremy McGovern gave away a questionable deliberate out of bounds free that Mason Cox turned into a goal following a strong contested mark and a straight shot from 35m directly in front of the big sticks.

The big American bagged his second goal of the opening term less than three minutes later and slotted a third-straight major shortly after to give the visiting side an 11-point advantage halfway through the term.

Collingwood midfielder Taylor Adams extended the Magpies’ buffer to 17 points after he was marched to the top of the goal square after copping a late, high hit from Eagles’ forward Oscar Allen at the top of the arc.

The second term was a tit-for-tat affair that had the 32,865 strong crowd on the edge of their seat.

West Coast burst out of the blocks when Tim Kelly, who was kept to just one touch in the opening quarter, burst out of the centre bounce and hit Josh Kennedy with a bullet-like inside 50 entry just eight seconds after the resumption of play.

The Eagles’ big man made easy work of the set shot to get the home side back within 10 points of the Pies.

Kelly and Kennedy combined again five minutes later to nullify a John Noble major before finals debutant Brayden Ainsworth found the major opening with a opportunistic snap to reduce the margin to four points.

Collingwood hit back via Jamie Elliot at the 15 minute mark, but Darling provided some late heroics by outmarking three Magpies and converting his set shot from 35m to cut the margin to four points.

Kennedy had a chance to edge the Eagles ahead on the stroke of half-time after he caught Noble napping with the ball in hand, but his drop punt from 40 metres out faded right of the major opening.

In many ways the penultimate terms was a carbon copy of the second term, except this time Collingwood outscored West Coast.

The home side hit the front for the first time since the 13 minute mark of the match when Oscar Allen got on the end of some surging ball movement from the centre bounce and pierced the tall posts from 15 metres out.

But the Pies snatched the lead back quickly when Jordan De Goey hit the scoreboard for the first time.

Jamie Cripps got West Coast back on the right side of the scoreboard with a running goal less than a minute later, but from that point Nathan Buckley’s men held sway, locking the ball in their forward half for an extended period of time.

Their persistence paid off, with Will Hoskin-Elliott and Jamie Elliot kicking back-to-back goals to gift the visitors a 10-point advantage with a quarter to play.

The final term was an absolute rollercoaster.

Ryan ignited the Eagles with a goal in the opening minute that barely missed the right post and Allen sent the blue and gold army in to a frenzy when he slotted an audacious right-foot snap as he tumbled to the turf.

West Coast continued to dominate possession and pepper the goals, but back-to-back attempts from Kennedy failed to find the major opening.

Collingwood, on the other hand, made the most of their opportunities.

Brodie Mihocek helped them regain the lead with one of the goals of the year, a running left-foot shot that soared over the goal umpire’s hat, and Jordan De Goey got the visitors’ lead out to more than a kick with a spellbinding snap that he could only seemingly make.

When Mihocek bagged his third goal of the game an Eagles comeback looked unlikely.

And in spite of West Coast’s gallant last-ditch effort, that proved to be the case.

WEST COAST EAGLES     1.2         5.4         7.6         11.9       75

COLLINGWOOD              4.0         6.1         9.4         12.4       76

GOALS

West Coast: Kennedy, Darling 3, Allen 2, Ainsworth, Cripps, Ryan

Collingwood: Cox, Mihocek 3, De Goey 2, Adams, Noble, Hoskin-Elliot, Elliott,

BEST

West Coast: Naitanui, Gaff, Kennedy, Darling, Ryan, Sheppard

Collingwood: Mihocek, Adams, Cox, Treloar, Pendlebury, Hoskin-Elliott