Round 16 – Carlton Vs Melbourne

Liam Chambers

We won. I may be a little bit older and my hair a little bit grayer but I’ll take every win and hug it close and tell it how much it means to me. Of course the win did come at a great cost. The most devastating was the injury to Tom McDonald. T Mac was philosophical the next day when he said he’d feel a lot worse about his season ending meniscus tear if the Dees had lost the game.

From the start, Melbourne completely dominated Carlton. Wave after wave of Demon onslaught failed to put any points on the scoreboard though. Finally Tom McDonald converted. An uncharacteristic miss by Christian Salem was symbolic of the Dees’ chances that went begging when they could have sealed the deal and locked the Blues out early on. A brilliant goal by the other Christian (Petracca) doubled our goal tally with Carlton struggling to contain the barrage from Melbourne. Tom McDonald kicked a second and seemed to have finally found the form that made him so impressive last year. Carlton managed a few minor scores before Levi Casboult got their first six pointer. Tom got his third but the Blues had managed to find a way back into the game and trailed Melbourne by twelve points at quarter time.

The Dees got a fifth goal courtesy of Alex Neal-Bullen early in the second quarter. When Christian Petracca scored his second it looked like Melbourne could pull away but Casboult got one back just minutes later. It seemed that as soon as we scored the Blues would get one on the rebound. T Mac got his fourth, then Matthew Kennedy evened it up for Carlton.

The second half started promisingly for Melbourne with consecutive goals for Tom McDonald and Jayden Hunt. Hunt has been a relatively safe pair of hands with set shots this year, holding his nerve in front of goal. It turned out to be somewhat of a goal-fest for the Dees in the third quarter with Sam Weideman, James Harmes and Christian Petracca adding to the total as well as another one each for Hunt and McDonald.

Unfortunately disaster struck when McDonald injured his knee late in Q3 and would take no further part in the game. Along with injuries to Marty Hore and Harrison Petty, the Melbourne bench would be severely limited in the final quarter. Though we went into the Q4 with a thirty point advantage, the Melbourne players knew they would be roundly tested by their interchange restrictions. A situation made worse when Petracca went off due to injury. Fortunately he was able to return supporting a blood stained headband.

Then the Blues attack started in earnest. Goals from Silvagni, O’Brien, Gibbons and two from Setterfield saw Carlton draw even with Melbourne for the first time in the game. A minor score from Kennedy put them a point in front and had Dees’ fans chewing their toenails. Then cometh the hour, cometh the man. Jayden Hunt kicked a goal from forty metres out to put Melbourne back in front. The final three minutes were a desperate attempt by the Dees to hold onto their slender lead and prevent Carlton taking the honours. When Mitch McGovern hit the post in the dying seconds, the realization that Melbourne had won by the skin of their teeth sent Demon fans into raptures of delight.

It wasn’t pretty but our fifth win of the season showed what Melbourne can do when they take a never say die attitude.

Next week we pay a visit to the in form Western Bulldogs. It looks like Jake Lever will be back but it would be a very brave Demon to predict a win for Melbourne. Still, I prefer not to think of next week yet and will just savour the sweet taste of victory that still lingers on my taste-buds.

Go the Mighty Dees!!!

CARLTON 2.4 5.4 10.6 15.10 (100)
MELBOURNE 4.4 7.11 14.12 15.15 (105)
GOALS
Carlton: Casboult 3, Silvagni 3, Kennedy 2, Setterfield 3, Dow, Fisher, O’Brien, Gibbons,
Melbourne: T.McDonald 6, Petracca 3, Hunt 3, Neal-Bullen, Weideman, Harmes,
BEST
Carlton: Silvagni, Murphy, Curnow, Newman, Walsh, Setterfield
Melbourne: McDonald, Oliver, Fritsch, Harmes, Petracca, Frost