Australian Football

Match Report

Port Adelaide completed a remarkable first weekend of the 2014 season with a come-from-behind victory against Carlton at Docklands on Sunday night. The Power’s win meant that the four matches of part one of the first round of the AFL year were won by the league’s four newest teams.

The match had promised intrigue, as both sides had unexpectedly made it to the second week of the finals in 2013, the Power courtesy of a resurgence sparked by new coach Ken Hinkley and new CEO David Koch, and the Blues with the help of Essendon’s demotion to ninth place on the ladder.

There had been an expectation amongst more than a few pundits that the Power had caught some teams by surprise in 2013 and that hey would find the going harder this year against sides that had done their homework on Ken Hinkley’s team. And the first quarter of Sunday’s match suggested the pundits could indeed be correct, as the Blues made all the running in the first quarter, with goals to “new” boys Dale Thomas (recruited from Collingwood) and Andrejs Everitt (from the Western Bulldogs via Sydney) giving Carlton the early break. Hamish Hartlett gave the Power a temporary reprieve with a goal at the 11-minute mark but the Blues dominated the remainder of the term, with two goals to David Ellard giving Carlton a 22-point lead at the first break.

In a free-flowing second term, Port Adelaide regained its composure and turned up the intensity in and around the ball. They were rewarded with six goals, four to beanpole forward Justin Westhoff, while the Blues added four. At half-time Port’s deficit was a manageable nine points.

The early part of the third term saw Port take control all over the ground and the Power added for goals through Robbie Gray, Hartlett, Oliver Wines and Brad Ebert to set up a 16-point lead and Carlton appeared to be “on the canvas”. But the Blues rallied in the second half of the term and two goals to Jarrad Waite, followed by another major to Chris Yarran saw the Blues wrest back control and the lead.

Trailing by an even goal going into the final term, the question being asked of Port was whether it would carry on its late-game form of 2013, which saw it win 15 last quarters for the season. That question was answered quickly and emphatically. After an early rushed behind to Carlton, the Power attacked relentlessly and a pair of behinds was followed by a brace of goals to Gray and Port Adelaide were flying. Before the quarter was half way done, Jay Schulz, Jared Polec and Gray again had added further goals to put the Power 26 points clear and effectively kill the contest.

In the end Port coasted to a 33-point victory and served notice that their 2013 season was no flash in the pan. Mick Malthouse explained that the Blues last-quarter fade-out was partially due to several players who had had interrupted pre-seasons not seeing out the game.

The two sides have an interesting month ahead, with Port taking on Adelaide, North Melbourne and Brisbane, and the Blues to take on Richmond, Essendon and Melbourne.

GOALS
Carlton: Ellard, Curnow, Gibbs, Waite 2; Thomas, Everitt, Yarran, Garlett
Port Adelaide: Westhoff 5; Gray 4; Wines, Hartlett, Schulz 2; Ebert, Polec, Butcher

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Carlton: Gibbs, Simpson, Henderson, Curnow, Murphy
Port Adelaide: Polec, Westhoff, Wines, Gray, Cornes, Wingard, Boak

BEST - THE AGE
Carlton: Warnock, Gibbs, Ellard, Simpson, McLean, Curnow, Waite
Port Adelaide: Westhoff, Polec, Wines, Gray, Boak, Hartlett, Cornes

COACHES' COMMENTS
Mick Malthouse (Carl): I think there's going to be a lot of momentum swings through matches. We couldn't get it our own way in the last quarter. The players that had interrupted pre-seasons really did struggle in the last quarter and the compound effect is that you keep the same players on the ground. There were some good fight-backs but certainly the last quarter was verity dismal.

Ken Hinkley (Port): It's a four-quarter game and the game's full of momentum at this level now. Carlton certainly had it early and then we were able to wrestle our way back into the contest and then finish off really strong, which is pretty pleasing. We did give up a couple of bits of score early and we just need to be a little bit stronger in those moments.

INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
Port Adelaide: Cassisi (calf)

SUBSTITUTES
Carlton: Troy Menzel replaced Tom Bell in the fourth quarter.
Port Adelaide: Matthew Broadbent replaced Dom Cassisi (calf) in the fourth quarter

REPORTS: Andrew Walker (Carlton) reported for rough conduct against Angus Monfries (Port) during the fourth quarter.

UMPIRES: Luke Farmer, Brett Rosebury, Nick Foo

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Anthony Hudson, Eddie McGuire, Gerald Healy, Brad Johnson, David King