Photo Gallery: Rd 14 2010 v Brisbane
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CARLTON ensured it will finish the round inside the top eight after a convincing 55-point win over the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
The Blues saw off an early challenge to steamroll the Brisbane Lions 18.12 (120) to 9.11 (65).
Without Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola the Lions were forced to recast their attack and did so effectively to lead by a goal early in the second term, but the Blues dominated long periods of the second half to finish with an emphatic win.
Chris Judd was in fine touch for Carlton with 29 possessions while Kade Simpson (23), Marc Murphy (26) and Bryce Gibbs (26) were also important. Eddie Betts was everywhere inside attacking 50 and terrorised defenders to boot five goals.
For the Lions, Simon Black led the way with 33 touches with Michael Rischitelli (26) and Matthew Leuenberger (21 disposals and 28 hit-outs) high among their side's few clear winners.
The Blues' small forwards looked dangerous early with Betts and Jeff Garlett both hitting the scoreboard, but the Lions soon wrested control of the contest.
Rischitelli was the chief architect on the ball and Todd Banfield applied the finishing touches up forward with two goals as the Lions opened up a surprise 13-point lead at quarter-time.
But where the visitors were the much cleaner side by foot in the first, they let Carlton back into it with some sloppy work by hand in the second with two goals coming directly from turnovers.
The Blues grew in confidence as the minutes ticked by with Simpson an important part of the revival through the middle and six separate Carlton goalkickers to Aaron Cornelius' one turning the tables for a 20-point lead at the main break.
While the match never reached any great heights in the first half, the skill level of both sides degenerated further early in the third term.
The Lions were gifted goals thanks to a 50m penalty and a turnover directly from a kick-in inside the first three minutes, but what followed was 15 minutes of entirely forgettable football with every player often crowding into one half of the ground.
Something had to give and when Betts finally broke the stalemate with his second the Lions' dogged resistance fell away. Three mores Carlton goals followed and it was only a 50m penalty that allowed Jack Redden to score in the shadows of three-quarter time that gave the Lions any hope at 25 points down.
That hope was quickly dashed, however, as the Blues banged through the first five goals of the quarter to settle the issue.
Carlton 2.4 8.9 12.9 18.12 (120)
Brisbane Lions 4.5 5.7 8.8 9.11 (65)
GOALS
Carlton: Betts 5, Garlett 2, Henderson 2, Yarran 2, Simpson 2, Scotland 2, Houlihan, Gibbs, O'hAilpin
Brisbane Lions: Cornelius 2, Banfield 2, Polkinghorne, Black, Rich, Redden, Buchanan
BEST
Carlton: Judd, Betts, Simpson, Gibbs, Scotland, Houlihan, Murphy, Carazzo
Brisbane Lions: Leuenberger, Rischitelli, Black, Rockliff, Johnstone, Redden
INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
Brisbane Lions: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Meredith, McInerney
Official crowd: 35,623 at Etihad Stadium
Full match report to follow.
