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Venue: MCG | ||||||||||||||||||
Date: Sun 22 June 2008, 2:10pm | Result: Lost by 35 points | ||||||||||||||||||
Umpires: J. Armstrong, R. Chamberlain, S. McLaren | Crowd: 59,177 | ||||||||||||||||||
Goalkickers: Fevola 7, Carrazzo, Stevens 2, Betts, Fisher, Murphy, Simpson 1. | |||||||||||||||||||
Reports: TBD | Injuries: Judd, (concussion), Carrazzo (concussion), Armfield (broken finger) | Ladder Position: 10th |
Game Review
Carlton entered this match as a team in the Top 8 for the first time at this stage of the year since Season 2001 and expected to win against the Bombers who had struggled all season. As had been the norm between Carlton and Essendon for most of this decade, the team lower on the ladder was able to give the other its come-uppance and the Bombers duely disposed of the Blues and put us out of the 8.Carlton were going for 3 wins on the trot and made the single change of Browne in for Hampson. Whether this was a deliberate ruck ploy against the experienced Hille or a sign of the weather conditions, we will never know, but Hille was dominant right from the start. Essendon blew Carlton away with 7 goals to 1 in the first, and at times it looked like Carlton weren't going in for the ball and were waiting for others to clear. The Blues were dealt a savage blow when captain Chris Judd copped a heavy knock to the head in an accidental collision with his opposite counterpart Matthew Lloyd. Judd would play out most of the game but was clearly not playing the way Blues fans had come to expect and was probably ineffective for the Blues. Coupled with Essendon placing heavy - and very successful - tags on Judd (Welsh) and Scotland (Reimers), Carlton could not extract the pill.
In the second and third, Carlton successfully chipped away at the lead mainly through the in-form Brendan Fevola, but the Bombers maintained their ability to score with a tall yet mobile forward line. Although the views of the day suggested Essendon was a fast team, their speedsters had minimal impact (until the last), with the exception of young Monfries who was able to keep on bobbing up for majors.
In the last, we all expected a comeback and it came for sure. First Kade Simpson, then Stevens, plus Carazzo and the ever-brilliant Fev and the Blues hit the lead. From one point up, Bryce Gibbs started the fist pumping from one shot but it just missed. The Blues were in front, in control, and were oh so close....but then the Bombers fightback started, running away with an open forward line and crisp delivery. A brilliant mark to their Captain Matthew Lloyd, who duly converted, and the game was Essendon's despite Fev's 7.
By the conclusion of the game, Brendan Fevola had scored 51 goals against Essendon in total from 15 matches at an average of 3.4 goals per game and is now third on the list of Carlton goalscorers against Essendon behind Stephen Kernahan with 68 goals (from 20 matches at 3.4 goals per game) and Harry Vallence with 61 goals from 16 matches at 3.813 goals per game.
Team
B: | 15 Steven Browne | 17 Setanta Ó hAilpín | 40 Michael Jamison |
HB: | 44 Andrew Carrazzo | 30 Jarrad Waite | 32 Bret Thornton |
C: | 16 Shaun Grigg | 5 Chris Judd (c) | 29 Heath Scotland |
HF: | 6 Kade Simpson | 14 Brad Fisher | 24 Nick Stevens (vc) |
F: | 19 Eddie Betts | 25 Brendan Fevola | 8 Matthew Kreuzer |
Ruck: | 28 Cameron Cloke | 4 Bryce Gibbs | 3 Marc Murphy |
Interchange: | 2 Jordan Russell | 7 Adam Bentick | 27 Dennis Armfield |
34 Simon Wiggins | |||
Coach: | Brett Ratten | ||
Emg: | 21 Mark Austin, 22 Shaun Hampson, 36 Darren Pfeiffer |
Milestones
Goal kicking: Brendan Fevola kicked his 50th goal against Essendon in this match.Brownlow Votes
3. Angus Monfries, Essendon2. Brendan Fevola, Carlton
1. David Hille, Essendon
Best and Fairest Votes
36 Nick Stevens, 30 Brendan Fevola, 22 Kade Simpson, 21 Marc Murphy, 19 Simon Wiggins, 7 Jarrad Waite, 2 Eddie BettsRound 12 | Round 14