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Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday June 29, 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Lost by 7 points | Umpire: | Crowd: | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: H.Kelly 2, G.Topping 2, F.Caine 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Perhaps it was over-confidence in the wake of Carlton’s big win over St Kilda the previous Saturday, or maybe it was just the emotional let-down after climbing to the top of the ladder. Whatever the reasons from Carlton’s perspective, the facts are that Geelong played right up to their potential in this game, and upset the Blues at Princes Park.Bubbling with confidence and strengthened by the inclusion of former South Melbourne star Harvey Kelly, Carlton began the game as a hot favourite. But the Pivotonians had done their homework, and they used the same defensive tactics against their hosts as the Blues had used against the Saints. Dropping their wingers and an extra follower back into defence at every opportunity, they crowded the potent Carlton attack and kept them goalless throughout the first half. At the long break Geelong led by 21 points, and Blues coach Jack Worrall didn’t wait until his team was in the rooms before ripping into them.
Worrall’s harsh words struck home, spurring his team to a revival in the third term, during which they scored 3.3 to 2.0 to cut the deficit to 12 points at the last change. But again, Geelong bottled up play for long periods on the defensive side of the ground in the last quarter. They restricted the Blues to 2.1 while adding 1.2 themselves, and held on to win by 7 points. The home side trudged off the field expecting to be told that they were no longer ladder-leaders, so there was widespread relief when news came through that St Kilda had also been beaten – by Collingwood at Victoria Park. Therefore, Carlton remained on top of the ladder by percentage over St Kilda, with South Melbourne and Collingwood next.
Kelly made a strong debut and kicked two goals for his new club in this match, as did George Topping. Frank Caine added Carlton’s fifth major, ensuring that he and Topping remained in the hunt for the league goal-kicking award. Topping (16 goals) and Caine (15) were now just two majors behind the new leader, Jim Sharp of Fitzroy.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 1st spot on the ladder with a percentage of 145.9.
Team
| B: | Alex Lang | Doug Gillespie | Norman Clark (vc) |
| HB: | Billy Payne | Jim Flynn (c) | Fred Jinks |
| C: | Ted Kennedy | Rod McGregor | George Bruce |
| HF: | Harvey Kelly | Jim Marchbank | Dick Harris |
| F: | Mick Grace | Frank Caine | George Topping |
| Ruck: | George S Johnson | Frank H Williams | Fred Elliott |
| Coach: | Jack Worrall | ||
Changes
In: H.Kelly, F.WilliamsOut: A.Snell, L.Beck
Milestones
Debut: Harvey KellyRound 8 | Round 10