THE Carlton Reserves had their first hitout against external opposition on Thursday, prevailing by seven points against Geelong.
In a post-script to the AFL match simulation that took place between the two sides, the VFL clash will played in the middle of excruciating heat at IKON Park, with temperatures hovering around 36 degrees for the clash.
It was Geelong who burst out of the gates early, kicking four goals to two in the opening term despite some good work in front of goal by Hudson O’Keeffe and the VFL-listed Jack Lefroy.
In a similar pattern to the AFL game, the VFL Blues couldn’t capitalise on their chances early in the game with chances going begging, despite the good work of the likes of Jack Carroll and Jaxon Binns in the middle of the ground.
The end-to-end nature of the game continued in the second quarter with both teams getting their fair shore of opportunities in front of goal, with Alex Cincotta providing his typical drive from the back half.
In his first game of football, Rob Monahan excited with a passage of play that ended with a goal to the impressive Heath Ramshaw after a Dom Akuei intercept in defensive 50.
That sparked the Blues into life, with Binns intercepting and converting not long afterwards as did Will White, as the Blues trailed by nine points at the main break.
The crafty Hugo Nosiara - who played three games for the VFL Blues late last year - impressed going forward, converting a classy goal from deep in the forward pocket, before Binns found Harry Lemmey for his first of the day.
Ramshaw put the Blues ahead with his second major of the afternoon on the three-quarter time siren, and when Liam McMahon - who swung forward in the final term - converted, Carlton was seven points ahead.
In hot conditions, the siren blew a few minutes later in a truncated final quarter, with Blues development coach Torin Baker telling Carlton Media that the team got what it wanted from the day.
“We wanted to give our players that game exposure. It was pretty tough in the conditions, so to get everyone through without injuries and to play pretty promising football, they were the highlights. We had a clean run,” Baker said.
“It was Rob Monahan’s first game, so to see him out there was really exciting for the footy club, and Billy Wilson as well. There were a whole host of VFL boys playing their first games for the Club as well: it’s a new group and the VFL is pretty transient by nature, so that was exciting to see.
“Jaxon Binns continued his stellar form from last year, Jack Carroll - after playing a little bit in the AFL game - had an impact when he was involved. Heath Ramshaw was really strong and kicked a couple of great goals, and Luke Nelson, particularly in the first half, was quite exciting in his first game.
“For most of our AFL main training sessions, we’ve had four VFL players come into our group — Heath Ramshaw has been one of those. The cohesion that you can build from that is what we want, it’s an absolute strength of the program.”
CARLTON 2.4 5.6 8.6 9.7 (61)
GEELONG 4.1 7.3 8.5 8.6 (54)
GOALS: Ramshaw 2, Binns, Lefroy, Lemmey, McMahon, Nosiara, O’Keeffe, White
