Australian Football

Match Report

A stunning 10-goal-to-nil third quarter has enabled Sydney to score a massive 71-point victory over Carlton at the SCG on Saturday night. Late goals to the Blues in the second quarter had seen the momentum seemingly with Carlton at the long break but an early third-term goal to Lance Franklin was the trigger for a Sydney Swans avalanche the blew away any Blue resistance.

The match got off to a slow start with only behinds being exchanged before Swan Gary Rohan finally kicked the first goal of the match at the 18-minute mark. Brock McLean got the Blues on the board with a major four minutes later but the Swans closed out the term with a goal to Nick Malceski to lead by eight points at quarter time. The second term was a more open affair and Sydney, kicking three of the first four goals of the quarter, jumped out to a 19-point lead before Carlton then turned the tables to do just the opposite and kick three of the last four majors of the term to seemingly take the momentum into half time.

But any momentum the Blues had was snuffed out almost as soon as the third quarter began. It was Buddy Franklin that got the ball rolling with a goal at the four-minute mark and it was Buddy Franklin who would torment Carlton throughout the quarter as he kicked five of Sydney's 10 goals as the lead went from just seven points to 70 points in a half-hour of footballing magnificence from the Swans. To the Blues' credit, they regrouped in the final quarter and restricted Sydney to just 2.4, while adding 2.3 themselves, but the final margin of 71 points is probably a fair measure of where these two sides currently sit in the grand scheme of this season. 

The win was Sydney's 12th in a row, a stretch not achieved by the Swans since 1935 and cemented the team at the top of the ladder, a game plus percentage clear of Fremantle, Hawthorn and Geelong. The side will have a week to recuperate before taking on Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday week in a potential Grand Final preview. The Blues meanwhile are languishing in 14th place on the ladder with just five wins and a tough match to come against North Melbourne at Docklands this Friday night.

GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 6; Reid 4; Parker, Goodes 2; Rohan, Malceski, Lloyd, McVeigh
Carlton: Henderson 2; McLean, White, Bell, Johnson, Everitt

BEST - SMH.COM.AU
Sydney: Franklin, Kennedy, Reid, McGlynn, Parker, Jack, McVeigh
Carlton: Murphy, Gibbs, Simpson 

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Sydney: Kennedy, Franklin, McVeigh, Parker, K Jack, Pyke, Smith
Carlton: Gibbs, Murphy, Simpson, Henderson, Curnow

INJURIES
Sydney: Nil
Carlton: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Brandon Jack replaced Dane Rampe in the fourth quarter
Carlton: Nick Graham replaced David Ellard in the third quarter

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Harris, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Ling