THE Carlton Reserves suffered their fifth defeat of the season as they fell to Port Melbourne by three points on Saturday Night.
The Blues trailed by 34 points at the last change and despite a final-quarter surge, couldn’t get the job done under lights.
Oliver Sanders and Ned Cahill were both lively up forward with three goals each, while Liam Stocker had plenty of the ball with 30 disposals.
Quarter one
The Blues got the fast start: Zavier Maher took an intercept mark at half forward and sent the ball inside 50, where Ned Cahill found the football at ground level and snapped truly. Port Melbourne responded with the next two goals of the game, taking 20 of the opening 24 marks in the process as Carlton struggled to take control of the contest. Ollie Sanders managed to conjure something out of nothing with another snapped major amongst a pack of players, but Port Melbourne then powered away with the next three goals to take an 18-point lead heading into the first change. Ed Curnow was impressive in his first quarter of the 2022 season, collecting six disposals and laying four tackles.
Quarter two
It was déjà vu at North Port Oval: Cahill again snapped truly a minute into the second quarter to bring the margin back to two straight kicks. Dow nailed one of those: a straightforward set shot from just 25 metres out. The Borough would surge ahead again though, with two more quick goals to cancel out all the Blues’ scoreboard damage in the term. A third goal a few minutes later meant the scoreboard was starting to look ominous, but the Blues found an answer. Goals to Tom North and David Handley from point-blank range brought the margin back to 15 points. However, the momentum continued to swing in this topsy-turvy quarter, as the Borough fired back with another two goals to finish the term. Cahill was the pick of the bunch in the first half for the Blues: the former Bomber complemented his two goals with 12 disposals and three marks.
Quarter three
Port Melbourne got the opening goal of the second half, but yet again it was Ned Cahill who slotted the Blues’ first of the term, again from a quick opportunistic snap. Jesse Glass-McCasker brought the margin back to 20 points and it looked like Carlton was charging, but Port Melbourne had the answers again: the host responded with another two-goal burst to blow the margin out to 34 points. Liam Stocker had a busy quarter mopping up off half back, collecting 14 touches to become the leading disposal winner on the ground with 24.
Quarter four
The Blues would come again: majors to Cripps and Maher brought the game back to life. When Port Melbourne found a steadying goal halfway through the term to extend the margin out beyond four goals, the game seemed to be over. Carlton had other ideas. Maher found his second of the last term, then Trudgeon clunked a mark from the following centre clearance and he added another for the Blues. Then came some Ollie Sanders magic - first a set shot from the pocket and second a high, floating snap that sailed through from 35 metres out – to bring the Blues back within two points. It was a frantic final few minutes, but Carlton couldn’t find a game winner and fell agonisingly short of victory.
Three things we learned:
1. Welcome back, Ed. The 200-game veteran made a strong return from a calf injury at VFL level in his first game of the season: he collected 19 disposals – and in typical Ed Curnow fashion – also laid five tackles, third-most for the Blues.
2. Despite conceding 56 inside 50s, the Blues’ defence continues to stand tall. The Carlton Reserves are yet to concede 100 points in a game this season and that continued tonight despite the pressure applied from Port Melbourne.
3. Lachie Fogarty played an impressive game under the North Port Oval lights. He found the football, collecting 29 disposals and taking seven marks, but also worked hard defensively laying six tackles.
CARLTON RESERVES 2.1 6.2 8.3 14.6 (90)
PORT MELBOURNE 5.1 10.4 13.7 14.9 (93)
GOALS
Carlton Reserves: Cahill 3, Sanders 3, Maher 2, Cripps, Dow, Glass-McCasker, Handley, North, Trudgeon
BEST
Carlton Reserves: Fogarty, Cahill, Stocker, Durdin, Dow, Lieu
Tarquin Oakley is a student at La Trobe University, undergoing his Bachelor of Media and Communications (Sports Journalism). He is currently undertaking an internship at the Carlton Football Club as part of its partnership with La Trobe University.
