Australian Football

Match Report

Grand Final hopeful Adelaide recorded a win as expected against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday afternoon, but not before the Blues gave the Crows a huge scare, hitting the front midway through the final term. A late rush of goals saw the Crows home, but the match provided yet another example of the narrow margin that now exists between all 18 sides in the AFL. Carlton will be disappointed with the loss, but Blues' fans will no doubt be heartened by their team's performances this year. There is little doubt that coach Brendon Bolton is moulding his side into one that will challenge for finals before long.

A good performance from Carlton seemed a very remote prospect a the midpoint of the first quarter, as the Adelaide Crows burst out of the blocks to lead 4.0 to 0.0 after just 15 minutes, the goals going to Josh Jenkins, Brodie Smith, Mitch McGovern and Eddie Betts. At that point, a three-figure thrashing seemed on the cards but the Blues to their credit firstly stopped the Crows from scoring and then added a late goal through David Cuningham to cut the margin to a manageable 18 points at quarter time. 

The goals dried up completely in the early stages of the second term, each team adding no more than a behind until the 13-minute mark when Patrick Cripps kicked Carlton's second goal. Two minutes later, Bryce Gibbs added another major and the Blues were within six points. From there the two sides went goal for goal, with majors from Adelaide's Riley Knight and Rory Sloane getting quick replies from Jack Silvagni and Sam Kerridge respectively and the margin at the half was only six points in favour of the Crows.

After an early third-quarter behind to Crow skipper Taylor Walker, Levi Casboult took a sliding mark and kicked truly to bring Carlton to within a point of Adelaide. The Crows responded with successive goals to Betts and Jenkins and it looked as if they might break away but Carlton had other ideas. The Blues kicked a brace of their own through Gibbs and Liam Sumner and scores were level midway through the term. Adelaide had a mini period of control after that, adding 1.5 while holding Carlton scoreless and it took an 11-point buffer into the final end-change.

Adelaide got the first goal of the final quarter through the agency of Sam Jacobs to take a 17-point lead, and there was a strong expectation that the Crows would 'go on with the job' from there and win comfortably. But once again the Blues showed steely resolved, not only stemming Adelaide's scoring but also kicking the next three goals, one each to Charlie Curnow, Matthew Wright and Dale Thomas, with the Thomas goal giving Carlton a one-point lead. From there, though, the Crows settled and brought the game back on to their terms. A goal to Matt Crouch restored their lead and Jenkins and Knight kicked follow up goals to settle the result. Casboult kicked one final goal for the Blues but Adelaide held on to win by an even two goals.

The Crouch brothers, Matt (29 touches and a goal) and Brad (30 possessions, 10 tackles), played huge roles in the Crows' win, while Bryce Gibbs (15 tackles, 30 disposals) continued his fine season for Carlton.

Second on the ladder with a half a game break over third-placed Geelong, the Crows will host the 10th-placed Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval this Friday night. Carlton, which has had a better season than its 16th place would suggest, will take on Melbourne (6th, 8-6) at the MCG on Sunday, in search of its sixth win for the season.

GOALS
Carlton: Gibbs, Casboult 2; Cuningham, Cripps, Silvagni, Kerridge, Sumner, Curnow, Wright, Thomas
Adelaide: Jenkins 3; Betts, Knight 2; Smith, McGovern, Sloane, Walker, Jacobs, M.Crouch

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Carlton: Gibbs, Cripps, Jones, Kreuzer, Kerridge, Curnow
Adelaide: M. Crouch, Smith, B.Crouch, Jenkins, Douglas, Lever

BEST - THE AGE
Carlton: Gibbs, Docherty, Jones, Cripps, Kerridge, Curnow
Adelaide: M. Crouch, B. Crouch, Smith, Jenkins, Douglas, Knight.

INJURIES
Carlton: Marchbank (right shoulder), Plowman (dislocated finger)
Adelaide: Hartigan (hamstring)

UMPIRES: Dalgleish, Harris, Pannell

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