The Wrap Up | Round 10 v Hawthorn
Written by Helena Petrou
It was by no means pretty, but the Navy Blues have come out of their round 10 battle with Hawthorn as 23-point victors. Despite Hawthorn gaining momentum in patches throughout the game, stellar performances from the likes of Walsh, Williams, as well as the skippers in Cripps and Docherty helped the Blues get over the line. The scrappy win over the rebuilding Hawks is hopefully the beginning of a turn in Carlton’s season as the Blues now head into a month of winnable fixtures sitting at 4-6.
Match Summary
Eddie Betts opened the scoring for the day, slotting a set shot from 20m out in the opening 2 minutes of the game. Silvagni followed up with a major of his own giving the Blues a 2-goal lead before a defensive slip up from Zac Williams put Liam Jones’ kick out of defence under pressure resulting in a turnover, leaving the Hawks to get their first goal of the afternoon. A beautiful end to end play from the Baggers involving Weitering and Curnow saw Sam Walsh send a lovely ball inside 50 to Matt Owies, who was waiting in the goal square, for his first of the day. Tom De Koning announced his return to the AFL with well executed mark in the goal square and snuck a goal home to extend Carltons lead to 16 points. A late goal from Jacob Koschitzke brought Carlton’s lead down to 10 points at the first break. Despite a near perfect start from the Baggers, their efficiency when entering the forward 50 cost them multiple shots at goal.
Hawthorn may have gotten the first goal of the second quarter, but it wasn’t long before Carlton responded through Zac Williams. Williams received a handball from Walsh just outside 50 and sent a right foot snap sailing through the goals for his first major in the Navy Blue. Sam Docherty laid an excellent run-down tackle on Sam Frost, an exemplar of his physical and gritty game style, to shift momentum Carlton’s way. Docherty enjoyed another great game on the wing, finishing with 533m gained and 26 touches. Half-way through the second term saw Sam Walsh hit the scoreboard with a bomb from 50 metres that excited the Carlton faithful with his 18th possession of the afternoon. Walsh would go on to finish the first half with 22 possessions, 4 tackles and a goal on his way to a clear B.O.G performance. Consecutive goals from Owies and Betts pushed out Carlton’s lead to 23 points, although 2 back to back goals to Luke Breust and a miracle goal to Dane Howe on the half time siren saw Hawthorn reduce Carlton’s lead to just 3 points in the span of 3 minutes.
The second half started slowly, with both teams unable to hit the scoreboard due to a heavily contested start to the quarter. Hawthorn opened the scoring half-way through the 3rd quarter, taking the lead away from Carlton for the first time that afternoon. The heart rates of all Carlton supporters collectively increased, surely we weren’t going to let this game slip away? Nic Newman’s incredible goal saving tackle on Koschitzke right on the goal line ensured Carlton kept in touch with the scoreboard. It took until the final 3 minutes of the quarter for Carlton to kick a goal which they found through Gibbons, followed by McKay with his first of the afternoon. Former skipper Marc Murphy extended Carlton’s lead to 19 points with a goal on the three quarter time siren. Walsh was receiving attention from opposition players in the second term leaving him to gather only 4 touches. In his absence Murphy had played an exceptional 3rd quarter gathering 8 disposals, 1 goal, 3 clearances and 3 inside 50s. Zac Williams also stood up in the third, with an extraordinary 337 meters gained and 10 disposals.
Luke Breust bagged a goal to kick off the fourth quarter leaving the door ajar for Hawthorn. Heavily contested, high pressure, an abundance of skill errors, the fourth quarter was well and truly an arm wrestle. Carlton had their opportunities at goal early in the quarter although were unable to convert leaving them with 4 behinds, but cometh the moment cometh the man- with 4 minutes remaining big Harry McKay took a massive, contested mark on the 50m arc on a 50 degree angle. Arguably the highlight of the match, Harry went back and slotted a terrific left to right in swinging goal to seal the game.
A peek at the stats
After giving up 3 goals in 3 minute before half time, Carlton only conceded only 2 goals in the second half, a testament to their tireless high pressure game style. A familiar sight in recent weeks, Carlton yet again lost stoppage clearances, but won centre clearances. Another re-occurring issue for the boys in Blue, Carlton finished with just 35% efficiency inside 50 having only 21 shots from 60 inside 50s. Composure when looking to hit up targets in the forward line will assist Carlton in making the most of their opportunities forward of centre.
Best: Walsh, Cripps, Docherty, Curnow, Williams.
