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Venue: MCG | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date: Fri 11 April, 2003 (night) | Result: Win by 11 points | |||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires: McBurney, Allen, Morris | Crowd: 44,268 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: Fevola 4, Whitnall 3, Fisher, Hickmott, Houlihan 2, Waite, Koutoufides 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: Prendergast (unduly rough play)- 1 week | Injuries: Nil | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Carlton broke through for its first win under new coach Denis Pagan in another upset against arch-enemy Essendon. This win would once again inflict damage on the form and finals hopes of the Bombers, as also occurred in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2005. The younger Blues side constantly put their more fancied opponents under pressure, forcing them to make errors which they capitalised on.The Blues kicked the first 3 goals of the match. The Bombers responded with 3 goals of their own before the Blues added another to take an 11 point lead at quarter time. They could have been further ahead had it not been for inaccurate kicking.
But the Bombers took control in the second quarter, kicking 6 goals to 2, to take a 15 point lead at half time.
The Blues kicked the first 4 goals of the third to regain the lead but then the Bombers took it back with the next 2 goals. A late goal to Jarrad Waite gave the Blues a slender 2 point break at the final change.
The last quarter began with both sides exchanging goals and the lead. The Blues were a goal up when the rain started to come pouring down midway through the quarter and then a light tower blew out, leaving part of the ground in darkness. This would not daunt the highly skilled Ryan Houlihan, who in those difficult conditions, calmly slotted the wet ball through for a goal from a tight angle in the forward pocket, to put the game out of reach of the Bombers, who would go down by 11 points. He then celebrated this by doing a 'Chainsaw' manoeuvre. This topped off a 28 possession Best on Ground performance.
Scott Camporeale, with 26 possessions, also helped set up scoring opportunities for Lance Whitnall (3 goals) and Brendan Fevola (4 goals), who was too good for leading full back Dustin Fletcher. Brad Fisher, in only his second game, marked strongly and kicked 2 goals. Bret Thornton restricted Matthew Lloyd to just 2 goals.
Team
| B: | 36 Trent Sporn | 32 Bret Thornton | 45 Anthony Franchina |
| HB: | 5 Andrew McKay (a/c) | 29 Simon Beaumont | 12 Matthew Lappin |
| C: | 30 Jarrad Waite | 34 Simon Wiggins | 16 Scott Camporeale |
| HF: | 18 Justin Murphy | 8 Lance Whitnall | 33 Ryan Houlihan |
| F: | 9 Adrian Hickmott (a/VC) | 25 Brendan Fevola | 14 Brad Fisher |
| Ruck: | 11 Barnaby French | 43 Anthony Koutoufides | 27 Darren Hulme |
| Interchange: | 19 Andrew Merrington | 13 Justin Davies | 28 Ian Prendergast |
| 41 Jonathon McCormick | |||
| Coach: | Denis Pagan | ||
| Emg: | Justin Davies* | Matthew Allan | Luke Livingston |
| In: | Andrew Merrington, Justin Davies- late* | ||
| Out: | Brett Ratten (knee), Corey McKernan (knee- late)* | ||
-*Late change Davies for McKernan
Milestones
Rising Star Nominee: Trent SpornLast game: Andrew Merrington
Brownlow Votes
3: Ryan Houlihan (CARL)2: Darren Hulme (CARL)
1: James Hird (ESS)
Round 2 | Round 4