| Venue: Windy Hill | Date: Saturday June 29, 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 62 points | Umpire: Frood | Crowd: 18,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: H.Vallence 6, K.Dunn 5, A.Clarke 3, J.Cooper 3, M.Crisp 2, C.Davey 1, A.De Luca 1, J.Hale 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: C. Davey, J. Hale, T. Pollock, G. Mackie, K. Dunn, A. Clarke | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: J.Hale replaced by R.Quinn during the last quarter | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Dominating Essendon from the start, Carlton led all day and increased its lead at every change. In their best display of the season, the Blues were supreme in the ruck and aerial duels and combined clever teamwork, brilliant ground play and fine accuracy in scoring to win by 62 points easing up.Thursday night’s training showed that Carlton was virtually injury free, with almost all players on the ground. Keith Shea and Eric Huxtable were still away with the state side and would miss this match. Carlton was sweating on Shea’s wrist injury sustained in the Western Australian clash and hoping he would not miss any games. Two changes were made to last week’s team. Gordon Mackie and Keith Dunn were back after injury and Ron Cooper (suspended) and Jim Park were the omissions. A late change was made before the game – Frank Gill was unable to play due to influenza and so Park was brought back in.
The Windy Hill ground was still heavy after the recent rains, with the centre of the ground a sea of mud, but at least there was no wind as play commenced. Both sides were floundering about in unimpressive fashion for a while after the start before a Carlton attack came from Vallence, trapped on a wing. He passed neatly to Dunn whose clever snap brought up the first goal. From early on, Davey and Pollock were winning in the ruck and providing much drive. Carlton seemed to excel in the conditions, while Essendon had not adapted at all. An unexpected chance brought up the Same Old’s first goal from a long kick at goal. Carlton was using its pace and the firmer ground around the wing. The Blues were passing accurately and using handball cleverly to create a loose man. Carlton’s second goal came when De Luca passed to Dunn who kicked truly. Clarke, scouting well in the forward line, kicked two more goals and the Blues were suddenly away. Essendon got a relieving goal but they were being beaten all over the ground. With a magnificent punt, Vallence kicked the fifth goal and after Dunn marked well in a pack and kicked his third for the quarter, the lead was four straight goals at quarter time.
Essendon attacked early in the second term, but Carlton’s defence stood firm. The Blues were displaying great team work and quickly re-established their dominance, particularly in the aerial work. Clarke, playing well, forwarded to Dunn who took a great mark in the teeth of goal and kicked Carlton’s seventh goal to open the scoring. Essendon seemed dispirited and half-hearted as Carlton attacked again and Dunn, playing brilliantly, took another spectacular mark but kicked wide. Vallence got the ball and kicked a great goal from 60 yards out. A free to Essendon provided their third goal but Hale replied promptly for Carlton’s ninth. Essendon, lifting, attacked again and goaled, but Carlton responded with three more goals through Crisp, Jack Cooper and Clarke. The Blues’ tactics of playing around the flanks and only centering when in scoring range was paying off, as Carlton had now kicked nine goals straight. A behind to Clarke broke the run. Towards the end of the quarter, Essendon were playing better and goaled twice, through a snap and a kick which dribbled through. Just before the bell, a spectacular mark to De Luca resulted in the thirteenth goal and a 43 point lead at the main break. Davey, Hale, Clarke, Pollock and Dunn had been standouts in the first half.
The third quarter was the most evenly contested of the game. In a strong opening, Essendon showed their best form of the day. Some vigorous play repelled a Carlton attack and they went forward, but a long shot missed for a behind. They atoned moments later with a goal from a splendid drop kick. Essendon had come out fighting and attacked three times, only for Mackie to stop all three in the teeth of goal. Carlton re-asserted itself after Clarke and Green defended well and combined to kick to Vallence. He kicked to Dunn who marked and easily kicked the 14th goal. Essendon, doggedly persisting, attacked again and goaled. The game had become quite rough, but the Blues were winning that contest too. Three more goals were scored; the first, a Jack Cooper snap, and the next two from Vallence snaps. A late goal to the Dons left them with a deficit of 47 points at three-quarter time.
Battling in the mud, Essendon kicked two behinds, but the strong Carlton defence easily bustled the lighter Essendon forwards out of the position. Pollock and Mackie started an attack, but good defence from Essendon stopped any scoring. Five minutes of hard football ensued until Vallence, brilliantly snapped over his head for the 18th goal. There was no doubt that the Dons were trying hard but with no method when forward, only hurried snaps were possible, resulting in three behinds. Hale, with an injured shoulder, was replaced by Quinn. Gilby sent the ball into attack and with nice work, Anderson passed to Crisp who goaled. Moments later, Davey marked close to goal and brought up the 20th. The contest in the game had faded and the Blues were now easing up. Clarke just missed but Vallence picked up and kicked his sixth goal. Two late thrusts by Essendon gave them two goals, but Jack Cooper replied and kicked his third goal. Now 62 points up, Carlton were content to see out the game and the bell sounded to give Carlton a dominant 62 point victory.
Footnote 1: At training following the Footscray drawn game, in which Carlton kicked 9-23, coach Frank Maher had players practicing their kicking at goal. Something had obviously ‘clicked’ as, in the three matches since, the Blues had kicked 9-12 against Melbourne, 13-9 against Collingwood and 22-8 against Essendon, a total of 44 goals 29 behinds. Were the ‘yips’ now behind them?
Footnote 2: On the weekend, the committee cleared Jack Cashman to Yarraville.
This was Carlton's 700th League game. For a summary of Carlton's seventh century of matches, click here.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 3rd spot on the ladder with a percentage of 130.4.
Team
| B: | 6 Fred Gilby | 26 Jim Park | 28 Bernie Treweek |
| HB: | 1 Frank Anderson | 24 Gordon Mackie | 10 Jim Francis |
| C: | 27 Clete Turner | 18 Norm Le Brun | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 11 Jack Hale | 20 Alby De Luca | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp (vc) |
| F: | 5 Keith Dunn | 22 Harry Vallence | 33 Jack Cooper |
| Ruck: | 17 Charlie Davey (c) | 16 Ted Pollock | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| 19th Man: | 30 Ray Quinn | ||
| Coach: | Frank Maher | ||
Milestone
Last Game: Ray Quinn50th and Last Game: Norm Le Brun
Club Milestone: 700th League Game
Round 9 | Round 11