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CARLTON almost produced a stunning come-from-behind win against undefeated ladder leaders St Kilda in one of the games of the season at Docklands on Friday night.
The Blues went down to the Saints by nine points, 14.11 (95) to 16.8 (104), in front of a 50,820 people after a sluggish start cost them dearly.
Unfortunately for the Blues, it was their 12th straight loss against St Kilda since round 20, 2001.
After St Kilda kicked the first five goals of the match – and Carlton trailed by more than five goals in the second quarter – the Blues hit back strongly, trailing by just three points at half time and 13 points at three quarter-time.
Goals dried up early in the final term until Nick Dal Santo posted the first at the 11-minute mark, giving the Saints a 17-point lead. However, when Betts and Fevola added their second each, the Blues were down by just four points.
Leigh Montagna landed a gem on the run putting the Saints up by 10 points, but when O'hAilpin replied with a beauty from the boundary, the margin was back to four points.
Ryan Houlihan had a crack from outside 50 at the 28-minute mark, but his shot at goal missed and when Zac Dawson kicked just his second AFL goal a minute later the Saints were home.
Kade Simpson was outstanding for the Blues with 23 touches and 11 handball receives, while Shaun Grigg (a team-high 28 disposals) also played one of his best matches for the club. Andrew Carrazzo (26) and Bryce Gibbs (25) were the next best ballwinners.
Carlton captain Chris Judd endured a tough night but showed enormous courage after suffering what appeared to be a nasty broken nose. He came from the field several times under the blood rule after clashing heads with teammate Steven Browne in the third term.
Remarkably, he played out the match and finished with 20 disposals, although he looking more like an Egyptian mummy with the amount of tape wrapped around his head.
St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt continued his outstanding season with five goals, while Leigh Montagna (a game-high 36 disposals), Nick Dal Santo (34), Lenny Hayes (30) and Brendon Goddard (25) continued their stellar seasons.
The Saints started brilliantly. Eleven minutes in, St Kilda had five goals on the board and a 28-point lead. All Carlton could muster was a rushed behind and a set-shot miss from Setanta O'hAilpin.
Eddie Betts finally opened Carlton's account at the 20-minute mark and when Marc Murphy followed up, the Blues remained in the contest.
But when Jason Gram spun out of traffic and bounced through a classy goal and Riewoldt kicked his third for the term, the Saints were up by 30 points.
Only a Jeff Garlett goal seconds before the quarter-time siren reduced the deficit back to 24 points.
Although Simpson opened the second quarter, reducing the margin back to 18 points, the Saints were quickly out to a game-high 32 points, after scoring back-to-back majors.
Just as the game was starting to look out of Carlton's reach, the Blues produced a remarkable turnaround, booting the last five before half time.
Carlton's work rate and intensity lifted, as did its ball-winning ability. Grigg had a super second term with 14 touches; Carrazzo had 10 and Gibbs nine.
The goals were shared with Carrazzo, Marc Murphy (who was his side's only multiple goalkicker in the first half), Shaun Hampson, Grigg all kicking truly.
And when Bannister snapped a beauty at the 25-minute mark, the Blues were down by just two points.
A Riewoldt behind gave St Kilda a three-point advantage at the long break.
It was all set up for a fascinating second half, but St Kilda had other ideas early in the third term. The Saints registered the first four goals, jumping out to a 25-point lead.
It wasn't until Bannister kicked his second at the 23-minute mark that Carlton had jagged its first for the quarter.
And when Brendan Fevola opened his account moments before three quarter-time – after receiving a free kick and 50-metre penalty due to Luke Ball failing to run through the interchange gate – the Blues closed the gap to 13 points at the final change.
Although Carlton had a genuine dip in the final term – it booted 3.5 to 3.1 – its inaccurate kicking also proved costly in the finish.
Carlton 3.2 9.2 11.6 14.11 (95)
St Kilda 7.2 9.5 13.7 16.8 (104)
GOALS
Carlton: Murphy 2, Bannister 2, Fevola 2, Betts 2, Garlett, Simpson, Carrazzo, Hampson, Grigg, O’hAilpin
St Kilda: Riewoldt 5, Schneider 2, Gram 2, McQualter, Koschitzke, Milne, Goddard, Dal Santo, Montagna, Dawson
BEST
Carlton: Grigg, Simpson, Gibbs, Browne, O’hAilpin, Jamison, Carrazzo, Judd
St Kilda: Riewoldt, Montagna, Hudghton, Hayes, Dal Santo, Goddard, Jones
Injuries
Carlton: Thornton (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Mark Austin, Judd (broken nose)
St Kilda: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Vozzo, McBurney, Pannell
Crowd: 50,820 at Docklands
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
