| Venue: Princes Park | Date: Saturday August 10, 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 41 points | Umpire: Boyd | Crowd: 40,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: H.Vallence 3, M.Crisp 3, M.Johnson 3, A.Clarke 2, K. Dunn 1, A.De Luca 1, J.Hale 1, T.Pollock 1, K.Shea 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: K. Shea, R. Green, J. Francis, E. Huxtable, M. Crisp, A. Clarke | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: M. Johnson (leg), E. Huxtable (ankle), J. Hale (leg), F. Gill (hand) | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Carlton returned to the winners’ list with a 41 point win over a weakened South Melbourne in this top of the table clash between first and second. Missing six top line players, the Bloods were no match for an in-form Carlton, despite closing to 19 points in the last term.Frank Anderson (groin strain) and Ron Cooper (ill) were the only players unavailable to selectors following a cold and drizzling training session on the Thursday night. Frank Gill was included after missing a couple of weeks with the flu and Wally Mutimer was brought in as 19th man.
South Melbourne had announced on Thursday that three major players would be out injured in their side but stunned the crowd when a further three were declared unable to play prior to the game. Davey won the toss and kicked to the Garton Street end with the aid of a strong breeze. South attacked first but Francis was in the way and sent Carlton forward. Clarke had a shot but South marked on the goal line. From the kick out, Crisp picked up and smartly snapped the first goal. Doing all the attacking, Carlton had a chance but Hale’s shot went out of bounds. Johnson, in his 100th game, was unlucky when his long shot from a tight angle just missed behind before Clarke kicked the second goal when he wisely waited at the back of a pack and snapped truly. Using the breeze well, Carlton were playing a long kicking, direct style, putting the South defence under strong pressure. By contrast, when the Bloods did attack, they met a well co-ordinated and determined defence led by Francis and Huxtable. Vallence, confident with the breeze, was playing well up-field and kicked the Blues’ third goal from a long drop kick. He just missed moments later when his angle shot went behind. Johnson scored his first goal after being well shepherded through and Hale kicked the fifth with a lovely running drop kick. At this stage, Carlton, dominating all over, led 5 goals 6 behinds to a solitary point. Not until the 30 minute mark did South score their first goal, but Crisp, weaving through a pack, snapped a clever goal to restore the lead. Missing so many of their best players, South were disorganised and rushed, whereas Carlton were brilliant all over. Shea, Davey, Johnson, Green and the defence were notable in a 35 point lead at the first change.
South rallied and attacked constantly at the start of the term. An easy shot missed for a behind before a long punt scored their second goal. Hale counter-attacked but his long drop kick was marked by South on the goal line. Attacking again, they scored an unlucky behind. Play was exciting and at times quite fierce. Turner was heavily felled twice in as many minutes. South were still attacking but Huxtable stopped several attacks. Carlton was the faster side and Shea, playing a brilliant game, goaled on the run after eluding a defender in a great piece of play. He was involved again minutes later after receiving a pass from Hale when he passed to De Luca who found Johnson for goal eight. Some excellent teamwork by South Melbourne resulted in two goals in as many minutes, but Carlton kept the pressure up and Huxtable, Hale and Turner were involved in Vallence snapping an enormous punt for Carlton ninth goal. It was the champion forward’s 500th career goal. The bell rang with both sides having scored 3-6 in an even term, with Carlton still the superior side, faster and showing better team work.
South made many positional changes on the resumption of play. An early attack was stymied by Francis who cleared after receiving a free. From the kick, the ball went to Shea, who kicked long to Dunn. He took a splendid mark and followed it with a goal. Hale helped Carlton to another, passing to Johnson who snapped across his body for a 47 point advantage for the Blues. South responded with a goal following a towering pack mark. Carlton had its chances but Dunn missed two very gettable shots, one from just five yards out. South made the most of an attack with a place kick goal after receiving a free (one of 65 they received for the day to Carlton's 25) 30 yards out. It was hard slogging football played at a fast pace and weight was being thrown around freely. Crisp responded with a goal from a free kick. South were playing better much better now and kicked their seventh goal after an error by Dunn. When the Bloods kicked their fifth for the quarter from a hectic passage of play in front of goal, Carlton looked a little rattled. South Melbourne supporters, quiet in the first half, had come to life and roared their side on. But it was Francis who steadied the ship, stopping several attacks. Rallying, the Blues attacked several times but good forward work was let down by scoring only four behinds. At the last change, Carlton led by 29 points.
The strong breeze had dropped considerably but South kept attacking and scored the first goal of the quarter. Carlton went into attack but Dunn’s wretched kicking continued with another behind after a fine mark. Another South Melbourne goal following a nice mark made the difference only 19 points. South Melbourne’s accuracy was astounding, having kicked seven straight goals since half time. By contrast, Carlton could not score a goal, with two more behinds added to make a run of seven, until De Luca broke through for a badly needed goal. South responded with their twelfth goal, again from a free. It looked at this point like anyone’s game and the crowd had become quite animated and involved. But the cool and experienced heads of Carlton stopped the flow and reasserted its control of the game. Green passed to Vallence who kicked to Pollock. He marked well and goaled. Continuing the attacks, De Luca, Davey and Clarke all missed easy shots before Green and Davey assisted Vallence to the 15th goal after a good mark. Play was still fiery with several nasty clashes and several players were spoken to by Umpire Boyd. Johnson (leg) was replaced by Mutimer. The game was effectively over when Clarke kicked his second for the day before another shot at goal was stopped by South right on the goal line. At the final bell, Carlton had answered everything South Melbourne had given and won comfortably by 41 points. Carlton's errant kicking was a concern with 26 behinds scored. Keith Dunn was a notable offender, kicking 1 goal 7 behinds.
Footnote 1: The complex fixture for this season meant that this game followed last week’s break due to the Victoria and South Australia match on Saturday 3 August. Frank Maher gave most players a rest at training, with mainly reserves players training. Maher was seen limping badly at the Thursday night session due to having pulled a leg muscle in the 100 yard dash at the Carlton picnic on the previous Sunday!
Eric Huxtable, Keith Shea, Bob Green and Charlie Davey were involved in the interstate game, with Shea and Green amongst the best. On the same day, Mick Crisp captained a VFL side to a win against Bendigo, with himself, Mocha Johnson and Jim Francis playing excellent games. Tommy Downs’ brother was judged best on ground in the Bendigo match.
Also on the Saturday, Soapy Vallence played as the goalkicker for Victoria in the Rugby Union match against a Maori side at the Carlton ground. Kicking dropkicks from a range of 50 to 80 yards with an Australian Rules football, he scored seven goals from seven tries, one of which soared 80 yards with the wind.
Footnote 2: Carlton had a week off the following Saturday (17 August) with only four matches being played to complete rounds 14 and 15.
At the end of this round Carlton were in 3rd spot on the ladder with a percentage of 139.2, four points adrift of Collingwood and six points in front of Richmond in fourth place. The battle for the finals was on in earnest with only percentage separating Richmond and St Kilda in fifth place. Two key games would be played next round. Carlton taking on St Kilda in a must win game for both and Richmond playing Fitzroy with the both sides needing the win to stay in the race.
Team
| B: | 6 Fred Gilby | 21 Frank Gill | 26 Jim Park |
| HB: | 9 Eric Huxtable | 24 Gordon Mackie | 10 Jim Francis |
| C: | 27 Clete Turner | 8 Keith Shea | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 11 Jack Hale | 20 Alby De Luca | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp (vc) |
| F: | 5 Keith Dunn | 22 Harry Vallence | 16 Ted Pollock |
| Ruck: | 17 Charlie Davey (c) | 15 Maurie Johnson | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| 19th Man: | 3 Wally Mutimer | ||
| Coach: | Frank Maher | ||
Presentation to Vallence
"Before the match Vallence was presented with a silver-mounted football in recognition of his defeat of Myles Hyland, the University Rugby Union player, in a goal kicking competition the previous week. Vallence usually adopts the punt kick, but in the competition he demonstrated his expertness with the drop kick."(Trove: Referee August 15 p12)
Park Orchards
Carlton players and officials on Sunday held a picnic at Park Orchards. All supporters were invited to join the fun.Milestones
100 Games: Maurie Johnson500th Goal: Harry Vallence his second goal for the day, in the second quarter.
Round 14 | Round 16