CARLTON co-captain Sam Docherty was all praise for some Carlton youngsters who stood up when the game was on the line against Sydney.

Speaking to ABC Grandstand after the come-from-behind win, Docherty was quick to highlight the impact of a pair of best mates who had some clutch moments in the final term.

Whether it was a goal to seal the win or relentless work at the centre bounce, the budding Blues are revealing themselves.

“It was one of those games: it was won and lost in the contest and late in the game we were able to do that with a couple of big moments, which in games like this you need,” Docherty said.

“Cottrell and De Koning were probably two of the bigger ones in the last couple of minutes, probably lifted us over the line.”

With the game on his boot, Cottrell was able to convert the major that decided the Blues’ five-point win at Metricon Stadium.

Despite only having five senior games to his name, time spent with Cottrell on the track left Docherty unsurprised when the youngster came up clutch.

“I actually walked up to him and gave him what I thought was some words of wisdom,” he said.

“We’ve been having a bit of a kick around at training with the defenders in our group and he’s been clutch every time we’ve had a little competition.

“It was a bloody terrific kick for a young kid who probably wasn’t having the best day and in the end that’s the difference for us.”

While his fellow housemate pulled through in the dying moments, it was Tom De Koning who equally impressed Carlton supporters at home and the skipper himself.

De Koning is beginning to solidify a place for himself in the senior line-up, with Tuesday’s clash just his seventh career game.

“We’ve been massive on ‘Kingy’ as our next ruck in terms of his talent,” he said,

“The hard part about when you’re drafting these young guys that have a high level of talent, especially in the ruck, is they do take a bit longer to get the size of to be able to compete against other big ruckman.

“For him it’s just being able to go across four quarters, we’ve never doubted his ability to mark the ball and get around the ground and his centre bounce work.

“To see that all coming together in the back end of this year has been really pleasing for us and we’re pretty excited with what we’ve got.”