| Venue: Punt Road Oval | Date: Saturday May 19, 1934 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Lose by 37 points | Umpire: Scott | Crowd: 37,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: R.Cooper 3, H.Vallence 3, J.Crowe 1, E.Little 1, T.Pollock 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: R. Cooper, E. Huxtable, C. Davey, A. Clarke, J. Hale, F. Gill | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: K.Shea (leg) replaced by L.Hughson at three quarter time. | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Although Carlton players fought hard throughout the game, Richmond kicked away after quarter time and prevented Carlton from kicking a goal for two quarters, eventually winning by 37 points.Two changes were announced following training on Thursday night. Mocha Johnson and Fred Gilby were unavailable, with a bruised torso and a strained knee respectively. In a surprise announcement, Gordon Mackie was included (it was thought he was still one or two weeks from resuming) and Les Hughson as 19th man. There was a late withdrawal prior to the game, with Bobby Mills out with a poisoned leg. Eric Little was his replacement.
In fine sunny weather, Davey won the toss. Richmond was first into attack and received a free kick close to goal. The subsequent kick hit the post for a behind. Richmond continued their attacks but were wasteful, with three direct shots on goal scoring behinds. Davey was the first to send Carlton into attack, but Richmond’s defence, closely checking Shea and Crisp, were able to repel. Suddenly, Cooper found himself unguarded and goaled for Carlton from a long running shot. He was involved in the next goal when he passed to Vallence who kicked truly. Richmond’s defence was now under pressure and another attack saw Crisp and Cooper kick to Shea, but his shot hit the post for a behind. Perce Bentley (a future Carlton coach) was involved in the next goal, Richmond’s first. Play was aggressive and very fast, causing both sides to fumble at times. Carlton seemed the steadier side with Richmond hurried when kicking. A missed attack for a behind to Richmond saw some great rebound play from Clarke, Shea and Deluca. The resulting attack enabled Little to score a lovely goal. Another Carlton attack prompted a defensive error from Richmond and Crowe pounced on the loose ball and snapped the fourth goal. As expected, Richmond steadied and kicked two goals but Carlton answered with Green, Crisp and Little involved in getting the ball to Vallence for a running goal. At quarter time, Carlton had a lead of seven points following an even first quarter which had featured some great play.
Carlton was into attack early in the second quarter, with Davey and De Luca getting the ball forward to Crisp, who just missed a goal with a kick off the ground for a behind. Richmond had now adopted a long kicking game, launching multiple attacks into their forward line. Carlton’s defence was holding but they were under constant pressure. Finally, Richmond broke through with strong play and kicked two quick goals to take the lead. Richmond’s defenders were keeping Shea and Crisp quiet, depriving Carlton of two attacking options. Clarke, ever alert, got through the defence, but his shot hit the post. Richmond were now the stronger team and had taken control in the air and ground play. Three more goals gave them a handy lead which could have been bigger but for two misses. In a powerful quarter, they had kicked 5-6 to Carlton’s two behinds to lead by 26 points at the main break.
Carlton made several positional changes at half time. Mackie, who seemed restricted from his foot injury, was moved to centre half forward, Park took Mackie’s spot at centre half back and De Luca went to the forward pocket. Good play from Shea, Cooper and Mackie forced the ball forward to Vallence but he missed from close range. The Blues were working hard but kicked three behinds in the first five minutes and then did not score again for the rest of the quarter. It was a hard, dour slog with both defences on top. Twenty minutes of play went by without any goals being scored, before Richmond kicked their ninth goal from a free kick. Despite many forays into attack by Carlton, the Blues could not break through the tough Tiger defence and trailed by 31 points at the final change.
Shea, with a leg injury, was replaced by Hughson during the break. A goal and a behind to Richmond shortly after the resumption made it difficult for Carlton, but the Blues weren’t done yet and continued attacking. Crowe marked close in but missed for a behind and then Davey and Cooper worked well to get the ball to Vallence who marked and kicked the first Carlton goal since quarter time. Richmond responded with another goal, their eleventh. Play was now held up for a couple of minutes when an irate Carlton supporter ran on to the ground to vent at Umpire Scott, who had actually umpired pretty well during the game. When play resumed, Crowe battled hard and kicked to Pollock, who used his body well and took a fine mark. His kick gave Carlton their seventh goal. Both sides were still trying, providing some spectacular and sometimes fierce play, but the hard play of Richmond had taken the edge off some Carlton players and many trailed in the hunt for the ball. Gill, still defending valiantly, saved a Richmond goal but then the Tigers broke through with two more goals. Cooper, Carlton’s best player for the day scored two late goals; the first after he received a drop kick from Kelly from the centre and evaded several defenders. The second came following some good assistance from Davey. A final Richmond goal gave them a well-deserved 37 point victory at the final bell.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 6th spot on the ladder with a percentage of 104.6.
Team
| B: | 26 Jim Park | 21 Frank Gill | 25 Harold Maskell |
| HB: | 9 Eric Huxtable | 24 Gordon Mackie | 11 Jack Hale |
| C: | 7 Joe Kelly | 28 Eric Little | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 8 Keith Shea | 20 Alby De Luca | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp |
| F: | 16 Ted Pollock | 22 Harry Vallence | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| Ruck: | 17 Charlie Davey (acting capt.) | 19 Ron Cooper | 23 Jim Crowe |
| 19th Man: | 1 Les Hughson | ||
| Coach: | Dan Minogue | ||
Harry Vallence marking shepherded by Ron Cooper
Leader May 26
Round 2 | Round 4