THE result was a tick. The performance was a smaller tick with an asterisk next to it.

That was the summation from Carlton’s Senior Coach David Teague after the Round 7 win over Essendon, as the Blues overturned a 21-point deficit into a 16-point win.

The Blues struggled to contain the Bombers’ quick ball movement on the wide expanses of the MCG, conceding six goals in the opening quarter with the game at a crossroads.

From that point, Carlton was able to rally, kicking five consecutive goals to surge into the lead and ultimately secure its third win of the season.

While mentioning there were a number of things to tighten up from a defensive point of view, Teague said that it was that shift in-game which allowed the Blues to come away with the four points.

“I thought our defence allowed us to defend more in our front half and get the ball into our forwards one on one and a bit quicker,” Teague said.

“I’d still say it’s a big work in progress for us, but in this game the different between the first quarter and the next three was our improvement in that area.

“Our adjustments in-game and the way we kept competing, we never gave up.”

At the other end of the ground, Carlton’s offensive mechanisms worked to full effect at the MCG, in doing so producing the Club’s highest score since 2014.

While Harry McKay was once again the main goalkicker with four goals, it was the spread of contributors which was more pleasing for the Senior Coach.

He said the Blues’ ability to find different ways to score at different times of the game was crucial in kicking a winning score throughout a high-octane contest.

“The way the guys kept competing and the different avenues to goal was something I thought was a great sign for us,” he said.

“When the ball started going our way, the boys’ ability to use it and finish their work in front of goal allowed us to get that little buffer where it makes a big difference.

“When you’re chasing that three or four goals, it’s very different to when you’re owning that three or four-goal difference.”

A quick glance at the fixture shows a challenging if not exciting proposition for the Blues in the coming fortnight, with games against the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne to come.

Teague maintained his stance from the opening seven weeks of the season, where Carlton has already taken on three of the four preliminary finalists from last year: this is the kind of test that his side wants to step up in.

“We love those games and we want to play in those games. We’ve played three of the top four fro last year and we haven’t got the job done: that’s our next step as a group,” he said.

“We need to play better, we need to keep getting better particularly from a defensive point of view. To beat these teams, you can’t give them too many looks.

“I’m really confident that if we play near our best - and that’s our challenge, to play at our best - then we can beat the Bulldogs next week or beat Melbourne or whoever we play: I think our best can beat anyone.

“The challenge is going out there and executing under pressure.”