Australian Football

Match Report

Carlton's season is in free fall after the Blues were hammered by a very impressive Essendon in front of just under 63,000 spectators at the MCG in the AFL's first-ever Sunday night 'blockbuster'. The Blues, who had lost their opening two matches of the season despite looking the winners at various stages, were blown away in the first quarter of this match and never in the hunt thereafter.

On the other side of the ledger, Essendon looked impressive in almost every facet of the game, and the final margin of 81 points could have been much greater had the Bombers not taken the foot of the pedal when the match was well within their keeping in the last quarter.

Ex-Cat Paul Chapman continues to be a revelation at his new club and appears to be relishing both his new surroundings and his reuniting with Essendon's stand-in coach Mark Thompson. Thompson has agreed to coach the Dons this season while James Hird serves out his suspension for his involvement in the so-called 'peptide scandal' and his team looks to be relishing having him at the helm. The Bombers have one two of three, with the loss a very narrow one to the red-hot reigning premiers Hawthorn.

While Essendon appears to have few cares, the opposite is true for the Blues and their coach Mick Malthouse. The skill level of his charges in this match was poor and there was a dispiritedness about the players for most of the night. The loss was clearly the worst of their three this year and the general consensus amongst the football pundits is that the Blues are a long way from a premiership window.

Sunday night's match unfolded slowly at first, with goal to Bomber Kyle Hardingham the only major event of the first 10 minutes of the match. But a second goal to Hardingham sparked the Dons into action and goals followed soon after to Jason Winderlich, Brent Stanton, Brendon Goddard and Winderlich again to leave Carlton six goals adrift at the first break.

Any thought of a revival in the second term was quickly snuffed out when Hardingham marked after a strong lead and put the Dons 43 points at the four-minute mark. The margin continued to grow steadily for most of the rest of the night as the few bright periods for Carlton were brief and unsustained.

The Blues will have a chance for some redemption when they take on the winless Melbourne at the MCG next Saturday. Carlton will start favourites in that match but with the players' confidence at a low ebb, they'll be looking to make a bright start lest a fourth straight loss be staring them in the face.

Essendon, looking every bit a top-four side so far in 2014, will have a stern test in round four, travelling to Perth to take on Fremantle who will be coming off a very disappointing loss to Hawthorn.

GOALS
Essendon: Winderlich, Chapman 4; Hardingham, Stanton 3; Goddard 2; Hocking, Heppell, Carlisle, Melksham, Daniher
Carlton: Ellard, Menzel 2; Tuohy, Garlett, Henderson, Murphy

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Essendon: Hocking, Merrett, Chapman, Carlisle, Goddard, Winderlich, Hibberd
Carlton: Carrazzo, Gibbs, Simpson, Walker

BEST - THE AGE
Essendon: Hocking, Hibberd, Heppell, Chapman, Goddard, Carlisle, Merrett, Watson, Hurley
Carlton: Simpson, Gibbs, Walker, Menzel

INJURIES
Essendon: Patrick Ambrose replaced in selected side by Jake Melksham.
Carlton: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Martin Gleeson replaced Kyle Hardingham at three-quarter time.
Carlton: Tom Bell replaced Simon White in the third quarter.

UMPIRES: Fleer, Schmidt, Pannell

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti, Tim Watson, Cameron Ling