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Venue: MCG | ||||||||||||||||||
Date: Saturday 11 April | Result: Lost by 4 points | ||||||||||||||||||
Umpires: C Donlon, S McLaren, J Mollison | Crowd: 70,370 | ||||||||||||||||||
Goalkickers: B.Fevola 4; E.Betts 2, R.Houlihan 2, M.Murphy 2, S.Wiggins 2; J.Garlett, S.Grigg, S.Jacobs, J.Russell 1. | |||||||||||||||||||
Best: C.Judd, N.Stevens, J.Waite, S.Wiggins, E.Betts, M.Murphy | Reports: Nil | Injuries: M.Kreuzer (cut head) Gibbs (thumb) | Ladder Position: 4th |
Game Review
Carlton fans may have been extremely disappointed with this result, but in the post-match wash-up you'd have to think we were treated to a modern day epic between the emerging Carlton team and the under-rated Essendon outfit who just kept on running and competing. Carlton forged to a three-goal lead early, but thereafter Essendon regained the ascendancy to trump the Blues and equal our record of 2 wins and 1 loss after three rounds of matches.In any close-fought game there are always some 50/50 situations that go one way or the other, and arguably shape a match. One more notable incident from this game was an aerial contest where both Bomber Matthew Lloyd and Blue Bret Thornton went up for a mark. A baffling free was paid to Lloyd - later acknowledged by the umpires' boss as a wrong decision - and was exacerbated in the ensuing heated moments when Thornton was penalised again. Carlton's lead was lost, and our momentum halted. Alas, we could and should have hit the front again in later moments, but a 2-goal turnaround from nothing was hard to take.
Chris Judd was best afield for the Blues with 33 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 4 tackles and 5 clearances, but the mooted 'Fab Four' or indeed the rest of our midfield were kept quiet by the Bombers.
The ‘ghost of Darren Goldspink’ re-emerged again in the number 32 umpiring uniform of Jacob Mollison (umpiring his 14th league match), who gave some baffling decisions (all against Carlton). In the worst instance, emerging ruckman Matthew Kreuzer was collected high going for a ground ball after a ruck contest during the second quarter. As the ‘Herald Sun’ kindly reported, Mollison “was blindsided badly”, when he penalised Kreuzer for holding the ball - and then wondered why Kreuzer couldn't get up. Nor did he see any blood from Kreuzer's badly gashed head as he was helped off the field of play.
Two Carlton players who had been dogged by injuries throughout their careers played their 50th League games against Essendon. Richard Hadley made his ninth appearance for the Blues and took his career total to 50 VFL games after making his debut for Brisbane in Round 3, 2001. Cameron Cloke also reached the same milestone in his 29th Carlton game. He made his VFL debut for Collingwood in the Round 5, 2004 Anzac Day match against Essendon.
Team
B: | 45 Aaron Joseph | 32 Bret Thornton | 18 Paul Bower |
HB: | 24 Nick Stevens | 30 Jarrad Waite | 9 Chris Johnson |
C: | 6 Kade Simpson | 10 Richard Hadley | 4 Bryce Gibbs |
HF: | 34 Simon Wiggins | 28 Cameron Cloke | 2 Jordan Russell |
F: | 19 Eddie Betts | 25 Brendan Fevola | 33 Ryan Houlihan |
Ruck: | 8 Matthew Kreuzer | 5 Chris Judd | 3 Marc Murphy |
Interchange: | 12 Mitch Robinson | 16 Shaun Grigg | 38 Jeffery Garlett |
39 Sam Jacobs | |||
Coach: | Brett Ratten | ||
Emg: | 15 Steven Browne, 17 Setanta Ó hAilpín, 29 Heath Scotland |
Milestones
50 Games (AFL): Cameron Cloke, Richard HadleyFirst Goal: Sam Jacobs
MCG Milestones: This is the 50th match against Essendon at the MCG - made up of 16 Carlton home games, 17 Essendon home games and 17 finals.
Brownlow Votes
3. Chris Judd, Carlton2. Brent Stanton, Essendon
1. Matthew Lloyd, Essendon
Best and Fairest Votes
43 Chris Judd, 35 Simon Wiggins, 28 Matthew Kreuzer, 7 Cameron Cloke, 4 Brendan FevolaRound 2 | Round 4