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Carlton came into the match against Port Adelaide at Football Park today hoping to square the ledger, to 2-2 this season and the overall head to head record to 4-4. It was not to be ....
Carlton had a late change when Luke Livingston finally got his first taste of senior football coming into the side for Ian Prendergast. In what was an unusual match Port jumped the Blues early and looked like they were running training drills until imposing skipper Matthew Primus pulled up with what may be a knee or hamstring injury. From there the momentum changed and the Blues man to man game plan saw them start taking control of general play and the pressure they are known for surfaced to allow them to chip away at the Port lead. Much of Port's scoring was coming from the ball being swept down the ground in numbers. The Port forwards were struggling with Beaumont dominating running outside the defensive 50 and Lance Whitnall accounting for Tredrea with superior football smarts and great backup from the defensive runners in Gallagher and especially Andy McKay.
The half time break was the Blues worst enemy today as the two teams went in with scores level. One count help but think that Carlton were pleased with their efforts thus far while Port were very disappointed. The third quarter was a lesson in what a lapse in concentration can do as the Port Power dominated the centre clearances and had free players forward and behind the centre square. How this is possible is beyond me and can only be put down to the Power's willingness to run all day or a lack of accountability by the Blues runners. Whatever the reason Port 'powered' on 7 goals in half a quarter to blow the game apart. The Blues steadied late and goals to Gallagher and Merrington who was a rare shining light up forward stemmed the flow before Che Cockatoo-Collins waltzed around the defence to regain the momentum for Port going into the three quarter break 6 goals up.
Carlton seemed to copy Port's blueprint early in the final stanza when they gained first use of the ball from the centre bounce with quick goals to Hickmott, Murphy and Houlihan narrowing the margin to 18 points. Another foray forward saw an opportunity wasted for the Blues and when Cockatoo-Collins fortuitously marked a kicked that dropped short and goaled, the Blues challenge had ended in a big way. Injuries and illness to Bradley, Hickmott, Hulme and Sporn had depleted the Blues use of the bench and once the momentum had been halted the Carlton players ran out of legs. An 8 goal quarter by Port to match their 8 third quarter goals will probably have the Blues defence knockers come out of the woodwork yet again. Dermott Brereton also made the comment during the last quarter that the Blues had had some scores kicked against them this year. Well an average of 13 goals against in the first 3 rounds and a high score of 111 make a lie of this claim. More to the point, this game began a shootout in the second half as the Blues strayed from their game plan. Port were always going to be favoured by this style of play and unfortunately 6 goals by Tredrea unfairly leave the impression that Whitnall had his colours lowered. I disagree.
Port's momentum came from fantastic running, some loose checking, riding their luck with the umpires and the bounce of the ball. No excuses there, just frustration that the Blues momentum lost its way when it mattered most. More teams will find out this year that when Port gets things going their way, they are irrepressible.
Positives to come from the match apart from the good form of stalwarts Andy McKay, Simon Beaumont, Lance Whitnall and Darren Hulme were the contributions from Andrew Merrington, Simon Wiggins, Luke Livingston and Trent Sporn who was an important part of the Blues first half success. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), the Blues lost a bit of fluidity in defence once Sporn went off the ground.
It may seem like a stupid statement I am about to make but if had to have lost this game then it might be beneficial to us to have it blown out in the end so we will be spared from the players thinking "gee, we had a real dip today." As it stands they will be embarrassed by their fade out and we can expect another backs to the wall effort next week against the Roos, another team that will have a lot to play for after two consecutive losses.
Carlton came into the match against Port Adelaide at Football Park today hoping to square the ledger, to 2-2 this season and the overall head to head record to 4-4. It was not to be ....
Carlton had a late change when Luke Livingston finally got his first taste of senior football coming into the side for Ian Prendergast. In what was an unusual match Port jumped the Blues early and looked like they were running training drills until imposing skipper Matthew Primus pulled up with what may be a knee or hamstring injury. From there the momentum changed and the Blues man to man game plan saw them start taking control of general play and the pressure they are known for surfaced to allow them to chip away at the Port lead. Much of Port's scoring was coming from the ball being swept down the ground in numbers. The Port forwards were struggling with Beaumont dominating running outside the defensive 50 and Lance Whitnall accounting for Tredrea with superior football smarts and great backup from the defensive runners in Gallagher and especially Andy McKay.
The half time break was the Blues worst enemy today as the two teams went in with scores level. One count help but think that Carlton were pleased with their efforts thus far while Port were very disappointed. The third quarter was a lesson in what a lapse in concentration can do as the Port Power dominated the centre clearances and had free players forward and behind the centre square. How this is possible is beyond me and can only be put down to the Power's willingness to run all day or a lack of accountability by the Blues runners. Whatever the reason Port 'powered' on 7 goals in half a quarter to blow the game apart. The Blues steadied late and goals to Gallagher and Merrington who was a rare shining light up forward stemmed the flow before Che Cockatoo-Collins waltzed around the defence to regain the momentum for Port going into the three quarter break 6 goals up.
Carlton seemed to copy Port's blueprint early in the final stanza when they gained first use of the ball from the centre bounce with quick goals to Hickmott, Murphy and Houlihan narrowing the margin to 18 points. Another foray forward saw an opportunity wasted for the Blues and when Cockatoo-Collins fortuitously marked a kicked that dropped short and goaled, the Blues challenge had ended in a big way. Injuries and illness to Bradley, Hickmott, Hulme and Sporn had depleted the Blues use of the bench and once the momentum had been halted the Carlton players ran out of legs. An 8 goal quarter by Port to match their 8 third quarter goals will probably have the Blues defence knockers come out of the woodwork yet again. Dermott Brereton also made the comment during the last quarter that the Blues had had some scores kicked against them this year. Well an average of 13 goals against in the first 3 rounds and a high score of 111 make a lie of this claim. More to the point, this game began a shootout in the second half as the Blues strayed from their game plan. Port were always going to be favoured by this style of play and unfortunately 6 goals by Tredrea unfairly leave the impression that Whitnall had his colours lowered. I disagree.
Port's momentum came from fantastic running, some loose checking, riding their luck with the umpires and the bounce of the ball. No excuses there, just frustration that the Blues momentum lost its way when it mattered most. More teams will find out this year that when Port gets things going their way, they are irrepressible.
Positives to come from the match apart from the good form of stalwarts Andy McKay, Simon Beaumont, Lance Whitnall and Darren Hulme were the contributions from Andrew Merrington, Simon Wiggins, Luke Livingston and Trent Sporn who was an important part of the Blues first half success. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), the Blues lost a bit of fluidity in defence once Sporn went off the ground.
It may seem like a stupid statement I am about to make but if had to have lost this game then it might be beneficial to us to have it blown out in the end so we will be spared from the players thinking "gee, we had a real dip today." As it stands they will be embarrassed by their fade out and we can expect another backs to the wall effort next week against the Roos, another team that will have a lot to play for after two consecutive losses.
