| Venue: Punt Road Oval | Date: Saturday July 27, 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Lose by 15 points | Umpire: R.H.Scott | Crowd: 35,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: H.Vallence 4, A.De Luca 2, K.Shea 2, A.Clarke 1, K.Dunn 1, T.Pollock 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: K. Shea, C. Davey, F. Anderson, A. Clarke, J. Francis, J. Park | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: F.Anderson (bruised hip) replaced by C.Turner in the last quarter. | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Richmond ended Carlton’s six game winning run with a hard fought 15 point win at Punt Road oval in this spilt round battle. In a typically bruising encounter between the teams, the Tigers held sway in most positions and, showing better wet weather tactics, led all day after a strong first term.The Blues were aware of the importance of this game against their strongest rival and put players through a searching training session on Thursday night. Frank Gill, still suffering the effects of influenza, remained the only Blue unavailable as Ted Pollock, Mick Crisp and Ron Cooper came into the side. Wally Mutimer, Clen Denning and Bert Butler were omitted. Clete Turner was made 19th man. Carlton announced some shuffling of positions, with Jim Francis named in the centre, Keith Shea onto a wing and Jack Hale to a half back flank.
Greasy, sloppy conditions greeted players at the start of the game. Richmond won the toss and kicked to the grandstand end. From the outset, each team opted for different tactics. Richmond adopted wet weather tactics such as kicking off the ground and kicking long, whilst Carlton played a short passing, handballing game. Carlton was first on the scoreboard after a chain of handballs for Clarke to score a behind. The Tigers followed up with a long kick into their forward line but an easy shot from point blank range went behind. A free kick brought up their first goal with a high punt. Another attack fell short and Clarke, in front of the Richmond goal, relieved for Carlton. Stirring football was being played by both sides. Despite the muddy conditions, it was fast and physical, with Richmond the better side early, on top in the midfield and ruck. Davey sent Carlton forward but Richmond’s strong defence repelled. Shea wasn’t rewarded after good play when he miskicked for a behind. Richmond scored their second goal following great play in the centre and a quick pass forward. Huxtable’s opponent was playing close to the boundary, keeping the defender out of the play. The tactic was working as Huxtable was being caught out of position often. He scored an unusual behind and Richmond, rebounding, goaled after a fine mark. Two more behinds by Richmond could have been goals with more luck. Tempers flared and Umpire Scott stooped play to calm things down. He would have to do this at least once in each quarter. Carlton were struggling until De Luca received a free kick and kicked the first goal. Richmond attacked again and Davey and Park both relieved under tremendous pressure. Carlton had a chance but a shot from Vallence went out on the full. Richmond scored their fourth goal late in the term to lead by 19 points at quarter time. Many Carlton men were well down and the players held a conference during the break.
The quarter time conference worked as Carlton lifted and previously unsighted players came into the game. Richmond relieved two Carlton attacks but scored only a behind from the rebound. Shea was sending Carlton forward frequently and Anderson was defending brilliantly. A behind to Richmond resulted in Carlton bringing the ball around the outer wing to Hale, alone in the forward pocket. He passed to Dunn who kicked off the ground for a goal. Shea continued the attacks but a shot from Vallence went astray. The game was very rough, both sides typically aggressive and determined. Carlton was the quicker side. Richmond scored their fifth goal following a chain of passes but Carlton responded with two goals to bring the difference to five points. First, Pollock ripped through a pack to goal and then Clarke beat his opponent to the ball and goaled at full pace. Shea was giving a dazzling display on his wing. Rallying, Richmond scored two goals, one from a free and the other after a fine mark. Another Richmond attack from an intercepted Cooper handball luckily brought only a behind. By the end of the quarter, Richmond’s defence was holding firm, forcing Carlton into plenty of errors. At half time, Carlton trailed by 16 points.
Richmond opened strongly, scoring 1-3 (including a poster) to increase their lead. Another attack was stopped by Park with stirling defence. Anderson turned another attack before Shea sent the Blues forward. A series of Carlton attacks saw behinds to Clarke, Vallence and Pollock. Carlton now made some positional changes. Cooper, beaten in the centre so far, was moved and came immediately into the play, and Francis was sent to the wing. Clever work from Johnson and Hale resulted in Vallence’s first goal, but Richmond responded with two clever goals. The Blues looked rattled until a mark to Davey seemed to inspire Carlton. Tenacious play and clever stuff from Shea enabled Vallence to kick the sixth goal. Crisp added a behind and right on the bell, De Luca marked and goaled to keep the deficit at 16 points. It had been an even quarter but Carlton had finished the stronger side.
Carlton continued the strong play as the final term commenced. Attacking constantly, Carlton now had the Tiger defence under pressure. The eighth goal came from Vallence after Clarke and Hale combined well. More attacks resulted in De Luca hitting the post and Dunn just missing for a behind. Carlton was finishing strongly and the Richmond defence, normally tight and disciplined, was now the opposite. Cool in the crisis, Dunn passed to Vallence for his fourth goal, which made the deficit just two points. Great play from Anderson, Gilby and Davey prevented two Richmond thrusts at goal. Both sides were playing desperately, with many fierce clashes. Umpire Scott had to again stop play until tempers cooled. A Richmond player was taken off with a broken rib and Anderson, with a bruised hip, was replaced by Turner. Davey and Mackie were in everything for Carlton. A Carlton attack was repelled and Richmond surged into their forward line. Two behinds came, but a poor kick out from the second resulted in a long kick by Richmond for their eleventh goal. This broke the game open and Richmond, now rising, kicked two goals in quick succession which sealed the result. Shea, still giving his all, replied with Carlton’s tenth goal but Richmond had the answer with their fourteenth. The game was effectively over when Shea scored his second goal but at the bell, it was Richmond by 15 points in a classic encounter.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 2nd spot on the ladder with a percentage of 138.4.
Team
| B: | 6 Fred Gilby | 26 Jim Park | 1 Frank Anderson |
| HB: | 9 Eric Huxtable | 24 Gordon Mackie | 10 Jim Francis |
| C: | 8 Keith Shea | 19 Ron Cooper | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 15 Maurie Johnson | 20 Alby De Luca | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp (vc) |
| F: | 5 Keith Dunn | 22 Harry Vallence | 11 Jack Hale |
| Ruck: | 17 Charlie Davey (c) | 16 Ted Pollock | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| 19th Man: | 27 Clete Turner | ||
| Coach: | Frank Maher | ||
Milestones
150 Games: Fred GilbyRound 13 | Round 15