Rd 18: Match Day Gallery
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CARLTON’S finals ambitions have taken a body blow following a nail-biting eight-point loss to the Adelaide Crows at a slippery AAMI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The brave Blues again flew home late, trailing by 32 points five minutes into the final quarter, but fell just short, 13.16 (94) to 12.14 (86).
Brendan Fevola bagged five goals for the Blues, narrowing the gap on Buddy Franklin in the Coleman Medal battle, while the Crows found an unlikely source to goal in North Melbourne recruit Brad Moran, who bagged four in his third game for the club.
Nathan Van Berlo (40 possessions) and Tyson Edwards were super for the Crows, while tagger Robert Shirley did an outstanding job on Blues skipper Chris Judd.
Nick Stevens (32 possessions), Heath Scotland (26) and Andrew Carrazzo (33) all tried their hearts out for the Blues, while Jarrad Waite battled hard.
The Crows played out the second half without playmakers Jason Porplyzia (concussion) and Chris Knights (hamstring), while the Blues also lost Eddie Betts before the main break.
Carlton will now almost certainly have to win their last four games to play finals. In contrast, the win keeps the Crows in contention for a top four spot, after looking shaky for finals action themselves just two weeks ago.
The Blues got away to a good start, Scotland and Brad Fisher goaling in the opening seven minutes to put the Crows under early pressure.
The home side’s first took another 10 minutes, and came from an unlikely source, with Judd’s tagger Shirley bagging his first for the season on the run from 45m.
The Crows stepped up the pressure, but the young Blues defence was standing firm, conceding only rushed behinds as Adelaide could not find an avenue to goal.
Sustained defence was eventually turned into attack, with Judd touching the ball four times and Michael Jamison waltzing through the Crows in a passage which resulted in a Fevola goal. When the Blues spearhead repeated the dose on the siren, with a goal from beyond 50m on the boundary, it gave the Blues a handy 15-point break at quarter time.
The second term was an eventful and entertaining affair.
It started with a goal to Adelaide wunderkind Porplyzia, which was quickly answered by Fevola (his third).
The Crows grabbed another back through David Mackay, then all hell broke lose following the downing of Porplyzia off the ball, sandwiched between Bret Thornton and Steven Browne. With the game held up for several minutes as the knocked-out Crow was carted from the ground, the Adelaide crowd came to life – and so did the Crows.
Goals to Ivan Maric and Nick Gill in quick succession saw the home side hit the front, but Fevola then countered after marking from a Scotland pass to regain the lead for the Blues.
The switch then flicked to comedy, with Fevola – who else – tripping over field umpire Heath Ryan as the Carlton spearhead tried to break away through half-forward. That chance wasted, the Crows snatched back the ball and the lead when Brad Moran stabbed through a goal from short range.
The quarter ended with Simon Wiggins steering through a fine set shot from the 50 metre arc, to restore the lead for the Blues by the narrowest of margins.
The entertainment continued after half time, with Cameron Cloke and Moran swapping early goals, before the Adelaide newcomer put his side back in front with his third.
If that wasn’t surprising enough, Shirley followed suit with his second, in carbon copy fashion to his first, playing on from a mark on 50m, and then Maric bagged his second -- a snap – to put Adelaide 19 points up.
Carlton replied through Andrew Walker, but when Tyson Edwards goaled and then Moran bagged his third for the quarter the Crows were out to a 26-point lead.
The final term started in the same fashion, Edwards snapping truly to take the Crows lead out to a seemingly impregnable 32 points.
Then – as they did last week – the Blues came.
Three goals in three minutes – to Kade Simpson, Fevola and Stevens on the run – saw Carlton suddenly back to within 14 points.
With the Blues now with the momentum they just could not nail the next goal, six successive points – two of them Scotland shots on the run – closing the margin bit-by-bit to eight points.
The Blues hard road home starts when they host Port Adelaide next Saturday afternoon at the Telstra Dome, while the Crows meet Richmond at AAMI.
Adelaide 1.7 6.11 12. 14 13.6 (94)
Carlton 4.4 7.6 9.8 12.14 (86)
GOALS
Adelaide: Moran 4, Maric 2, Shirley 2, Edwards 2, Gill, Mackay, Porplyzia
Carlton: Fevola 5, Scotland, Fisher, Walker, Cloke, Wiggins, Stevens, Simpson
BEST
Adelaide: Shirley, Edwards, van Berlo, Moran, Massie, Doughty, McLeod
Carlton: Scotland, Waite, Fevola, Stevens, Carazzo, Gibbs
INJURIES
Adelaide: Porplyzia (concussion), Knights (hamstring)
Carlton: Betts (hamstring)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: H. Ryan, S. Meredith, S. McInerney
Crowd: 40,730 at AAMI Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.
