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Venue: Victoria Park | Date: Saturday June 1, 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Won by 11 points | Umpire: Wregg | Crowd: 15,000 (Approx) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Best: C.Hammond, F.Jinks, F.Elliott, J.Flynn, R.McGregor, G.Bruce, T.Kennedy, F.Caine, M.Grace | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: V.Gardiner 1, M.Grace 1, C.Hammond 1, G.Topping 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: F.Jinks (leg injury, carried from the field during the final quarter), Hammond (injured), Gardiner (injured) | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
At the conclusion of this match, The Argus correspondent "Observer" was left to lament the poor football played at the start of the 1907 season - "...it is yet a little too early to say that football has, as a game of skill, deteriorated this year, but I have a strong impression that it is so. The first six rounds in last year's league contests, produced far more open, breezy football than has been the case this year".The game was a spectacle for the fans in the opening quarter, with fast and open football being played, if somewhat on the forceful side. A strong wind blowing across the ground forced most of the play over to one side of the field, and while the captains of both teams signalled their forwards towards the windward flank when they got within scoring range, these instructions were largely ignored.
Carlton opened playing stronger and faster football, and gave the impression that they had more numbers around the ball. Alex "Bongo" Lang, playing half-forward on the right wing, gave the forwards great service, while Frank Caine had a few chances to score with punt kicks, but most were from long range and failed to reach the goal line. A fine goal was scored by Mick Grace for the Blues, feigning a swerve behind him before playing on and nailing the kick. Charlie Hammond also scored in the first term for Carlton, after a scramble in front of the Collingwood defensive goal square. The Magpies too, kicked two goals for the term, with Lee delivering both of them. At quarter time however, the Blues had not maximised their opportunities, with George Topping, Grace and Caine unable to capitalise on the good work of the rest of the team.
The second quarter was uninspiring, with the play often confined to the boundary line about 45 metres from the attacking goal. Many players were around the contest, and the game became scrappy as a result. In spite of having the better of the play, especially amongst the followers and in the ruck contests, Carlton was often bottled up on the non-scoring side of the ground, and so struggled to put on the score that was deserved for the teams efforts. Collingwood struggled against the strength of the Carlton team around the ball, and only managed one scoring chance for the term, an easy shot for goal to Rowell. He had been wayward with his kicking of late, and missed the shot to score a behind. The Blues had seven scoring attempts, and in the windy conditions missed all of them, leading to the lamentation that this was one of the worst quarters of football of the season. An extra 8 scoring shots for Carlton, producing 2.10 to 2.2, told a sorry tale for the Blues until half-time.
The wind continued to blow after half-time and the scrappy football persisted until the final bell ended a game that would not have been fondly remembered by many of those on hand to see it. Carlton scored 2.5 to Collingwood’s 2.4 after half-time, stretching their victory margin to 11 points, and keeping their Premiership aspirations bubbling. Second on the ladder to the still undefeated St Kilda, the Blues were now well ahead of South Melbourne on percentage. Essendon were fourth, but in a remarkably even season all the other clubs were equal on points with the Same Old, and still right in finals contention.
It was a similar situation at the top of the goal-kicking list. Five other players - including Carlton star Frank Caine - were all within two goals of the 13 kicked so far by the pace-setter; Jim Matthews of St Kilda.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 2nd spot on the ladder with a percentage of 139.0.
Team
| B: | Archie Snell | Albert Bickford | Les Beck |
| HB: | Billy Payne | Jim Flynn (c) | Fred Jinks |
| C: | Ted Kennedy | Rod McGregor | George Bruce |
| HF: | Frank Caine | Dick Harris | Alex Lang |
| F: | Mick Grace | George Topping | Vin Gardiner |
| Ruck: | George S Johnson | Charlie Hammond | Fred Elliott |
| Coach: | Jack Worrall | ||
Changes
In: A.Snell. A.Bickford, D.HarrisOut: N.Clark, Doug Gillespie, Dave Gillespie
Milestones
Last game: Albert BickfordRound 5 | Round 7