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CARLTON has fallen to a 56-point defeat at the hands of Geelong at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
The Blues put in a dogged first-half performance to trail the reigning premiers by 13 points at the main break, but could do little to halt a second-half onslaught that set up the 19.19 (133) to 12.5 (77) scoreline in front of a crowd of 46,231.
The Cats were near-unstoppable in a third term where they sealed the result despite inaccuracy in front of goal; outscoring Carlton 6.8 to one point.
To the Blues’ credit they came out of the three-quarter time huddle and matched Geelong’s six goals in the final term, but the damage had been done.
Chris Judd had to contend to with the attention of master tagger Cameron Ling after quarter time, but the skipper still managed 28 possessions to be high in his side’s best players.
Andrew Carrazzo (29 disposals), Nick Stevens (26) and Heath Scotland (25) were also prominent.
Matthew Scarlett was matched up on Brendan Fevola and took the honours on the night in keeping the prolific spearhead to three goals.
Youngster David Armfield made a debut to remember, gathering 23 possessions in an eye-catching performance switching from defence to the midfield.
Steve Johnson was in rare form for the Cats with 29 possessions and five goals.
Cam Mooney was a late withdrawal for the Cats with a sore shoulder, but it allowed Tom Lonergan to come in for his first game since the horrific collision that cost him a kidney late in the 2006 season.
The Blues started well and led when Fevola kicked his first goal 11 minutes in, after Judd got the ball rolling with a goal resulting from his intercept of a Darren Milburn kick-in.
But Geelong finished the term the better side, only to spurn several gilt-edged opportunities. Lonergan was the main culprit with three behinds as the Cats kicked five straight points to lead by five points at the first break.
Johnson snapped a nice goal to start the second quarter, but Carlton kicked consecutive goals to retake the lead.
Both came from impressive marks, with Fevola juggling the ball with one hand while fending off Scarlett and Cameron Cloke flying high over Tom Harley to come down with the mark of the evening.
However, just as in the first quarter, the Cats hit back hard and took the game away from the Blues with a quick three-goal burst. Bryce Gibbs did well to find Scotland who converted against the run of play, but Milburn drifted forward to boot a goal that put his side 19 points up.
Geelong’s running game was in full flight with Carlton forced to hang onto the ball and take the pace off the contest for late in the quarter. The strategy didn’t please the majority of the Cats’ home crowd, but it proved effective as Geelong didn’t score again before half time while Stevens pulled the deficit back to 13 points with his goal 28 seconds before the siren.
But the Blues had no answer to the Cats’ third-term onslaught.
Carlton went inside forward 50 just six times for the quarter for a return of one rushed behind, while the Cats’ 23 forward forays resulted in six goals and eight behinds. The news just got worse for the Blues as the term progressed, with Paul Bower leaving the ground after falling awkwardly on his left wrist.
The Cats had their tails up and threatened to run up the score when Jimmy Bartel made the margin 62 points with a goal inside the first minute of the last quarter, but the Blues did well to match them with Eddie Betts contributing two of his side’s six final-quarter goals.
Geelong 2.7 7.10 13.18 19.19 (133)
Carlton 2.2 6.3 6.4 12.5 (77)
GOALS
Geelong: Johnson 5 Stokes 4 Byrnes 3 Lonergan 2 Rooke Milburn Mackie Bartel Varcoe
Carlton: Fevola 3 Betts 2 Gibbs 2 Judd Cloke Scotland Stevens Wiggins
BEST
Geelong: Johnson Ablett Corey Bartel Stokes Byrnes Milburn Scarlett
Carlton: Judd Carrazzo Armfield O’hAilpin Gibbs Stevens
INJURIES
Geelong: Mooney (shoulder) replaced in selected side by Lonergan.
Carlton: Paul Bower (AC joint)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Ryan, Avon
Official crowd: 46,231 at Telstra Dome
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
