August 26, 2009

Carlton vs Melbourne...

IT'S Saturday afternoon and I’m told that I am too sick by my Mum, so I have to watch the game from home. I decide to watch it on TV at 3, and before that I was watching the VFL, while making the score sheet. In the third quarter of Port Melbourne vs Sandringham I switched the TV on to One. I saw the Deluca brothers playing for Port Melbourne, 27-year-old Adrian Deluca (who played 46 games for Carlton between 2004-2006) and his 22-year-old Brother Fabian (11 games for Port Adelaide between 2006-2008) who is a spitting image of Matthew Kreuzer. They both worked together to eventually lead Port to a 31-point win.
There is a late change to both teams, Armfield is out for Carlton and replaced by Anderson, Jones is out for Melbourne and Jamar is in. Hang on, Melbourne are playing four ruckmen! Ridiculous. Chris Judd wins the toss and kicks to the Lockett end, and the first Carlton vs Melbourne clash since round five last year gets underway.
The Dees draw first blood with a long goal from Johnson that bounces through. Fevola gets an unfair free and kicks the Blues’ first from 40, after a spirited start from the Demons. Moloney marks at 70 and goes back, and the ball incredibly goes through with only one bounce. The Dees are on. But maybe they aren’t. Carrazzo drills a low one through from the pocket, levelling the scores. The Blues work the ball well inside 50 and O’hAilpin finishes it off with a great snap. McKenzie passes to Jetta who converts from the top of the square. Gibbs marks and kicks a good reply from 50. Robbo, after diving on the fake turf outside the perimeter piping, comes back on to the ground with tape around his waist. I hoped he would put up a good performance today for the club. Jamar the now-forward marks and goals, leveling the scores yet again. Good goals from Garlett and Murphy put the Blues two goals ahead. At quarter time the Dees still trail by 13, 6.3 (39) to 4.2 (26).
It was a good first quarter, but Michael Christian and Luke Darcy kept going on about Ratten giving his troops a spray at quarter time. How far ahead of Melbourne do you have to be to be playing well? Gibbs and Murphy have 10 touches each for Carlton while McDonald and Sylvia have eight each.
The second quarter begins and Petterd comes off the ground with a groin injury, after not having a touch in the first quarter. Hadley soon goes off for Carlton with a suspected broken arm. Injuries aside, Jamar marked on the lead and wobbled one through from 45. Garlett crumbed brilliantly for Carlton and kicked his second, while Jetta kicked his second for the Dees. Jetta was playing well, after only having three possessions last week. Spencer marks (in the same spot where he made his blunder two weeks ago) but does better and scores a point. Scotland snaps a goal from the square for Carlton and goals from Garlett (who was playing well) and Scotland again follow, which are both caused from dropped marks by Morton. Jamar gets a free and kicks his third; I’m beginning to think he could make it as a tall forward. Fevola pings Cheney and pops it over the top to Simpson who goals. Fevola kicks another goal, and Robbo kicks one to the delight of Dee’s fans. Its half time and the Blues lead, 12.5 (77) to 8.3 (51). Gibbs has a massive 24 possessions, Murphy has 19 while McDonald has 16 and Sylvia 17 for the Dees.
The third quarter begins and Garlett kicks a ripping fourth goal from the boundary line. Robbo marks with his legs and drills his second. A balloon finds its way onto Etihad Stadium and Jamar kicks a high banana which sneaks home. Four goals to Jamar. Fevola kicks an incredible goal from 55 and Robbo gets his third from a result of a free kick. Fevola is the third man up in the ruck contest; he taps it down to Betts who snaps one home. Jamar kicks his fifth! Which beats his previous best of two. The Dees try and slow it down but Fevola gets a goal from a stupid free. Fevola dribbles another one through from a tight angle and his on fire. Just before three quarter time he kicks another, his sixth. At the break it’s Carlton by 41, 17.15 (117) to 11.10 (76) in a high scoring game. Gibbs has 32 possessions, Murphy has 26 and for the Dees McDonald has 25 and Sylvia 24. The first three quarters have all had the same goal pattern, 6-4 for Carlton.
The last quarter begins and Fevola kicks his fourth in a row for the match, giving Carlton a 47-point lead. Robbo goes for the ball and courageously crashes in to Walker in the middle of the ground. Kreuzer kicks another and it’s looking even grimmer for Melbourne. Simpson strolls inside 50 and kicks another. Robbo takes a great mark and kicks his fourth as a result. Betts passes the ball from the pocket to Simpson, who kicks his third. Robertson marks again for the Dees. He goes back and sticks his fifth through the middle. Jurrah shows class after a quiet day, spinning around, grabbing the ball and slotting through his first. Houlihan marks a high ball (but not a very long one!) kicked by Kreuzer and kicks his first. Houlihan gets it back on the siren and the ball somehow evades the post to squeeze through the goals. The first two games of the round have resulted in a goal after the final siren. The final score is 24.9 (153) to 15.6 (96), a very similar to the Dees loss in Round 3, just a goal each more to both sides.
I observe Robbo leaving the ground and signing a young supporter’s jumper. Murphy finishes with a career-high 37 touches, Carrazzo had 35 and Gibbs 34. Sylvia lead for Melbourne with 34 and Davey (who had a heap of it in the last term) finished with 30. Special mentions to Jetta who had a classy 24.
For the second time in a row against Melbourne, Fevola kicked seven straight. Jamar had an impressive five goals from seven possessions. For once Melbourne had more frees then Carlton, 16-11 our way. The tackle count shows the difference, 67-35 the Blues’ way.
Sometimes it’s good to be screaming from the couch, not from high up in the stands.

Carlton  6.3  12.5  18.9  24.9 (153)
Melbourne   4.2  8.3  12.4  15.6 (96)
GOALS Carlton: Fevola 7, Garlett 4, Simpson 3, Houlihan 2, Scotland 2, Carrazzo, O’hAilpin, Gibbs, Murphy, Betts, Kreuzer. Melbourne: Robertson 5, Jamar 5, Jetta 2, Moloney, Jurrah, Johnson.
BEST Carlton: Murphy, Fevola, Gibbs, Garlett, Judd, Carrazzo, Simpson, Scotland, Joseph. Melbourne: Robertson, Sylvia, Davey, Jetta, Jamar, Moloney.
My votes: 3. Marc Murphy (Carl), 2. Brendan Fevola (Carl), 1. Russell Robertson (Melb).
Umpires: Farmer, James, Pannell.                      
Crowd: 37, 433 at Docklands.


• Marc Murphy of Carlton in action during the round 21 match against the Demons at Docklands. Photo by Michael Willson. The Slattery Media Group

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