Judd’s comeback gives old Eagles mates the blues

Chris Judd’s return to take on West Coast has sparked Carlton’s first win in Perth for seven years, with the Eagles’ bad season getting worse with a 17.9 (111) to 10.14 (74) defeat at Subiaco Oval.

Wisdom of the crowd telling Judd he is a naughty boy

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While all the hype had been around Judd’s comeback to his old club, it was Blues forward Brendan Fevola with four goals - and the Eagles’ own ill-discipline - which sent the home side to a sixth straight defeat.

Eight unanswered goals in the second term - six of them involving either free kicks or 50m penalties - put another dent in the Eagles’ once fearsome reputation.

And while Adam Selwood did a serviceable job on Judd, who finished with 24 possessions, the Eagles’ scoring impotency was again exposed, with two goals before halftime allowing the Blues’ backline a free ride.

Whatever John Worsfold said at the main break worked, with Josh Kennedy - the man who came the other in the Judd trade - sparking a third quarter Eagles fightback with two majors.

With the Eagles kicking eight of the next nine goals, they whittled Carlton’s 53-point lead down to seven, with only early last-term misses from Quinten Lynch and Steven Armstrong denying them an unlikely the lead.

And to cap the ignominy, it was Judd with a trademark clearance deep in attack which set up Bryce Gibbs for the sealer.

While the attention was centred on a great player, a dreadful game unfolded around Judd in the early stages.

Skill errors from both sides were punctuated by rare moments of spark - Fevola’s first followed by a finger to the mouth to silence the crowd the first-quarter talking point.

Trailing by three points at quarter time, West Coast’s scoring woes continued when Lynch missed from point blank range early in term two - after which his team simply lost the plot.

After conceding the first two goals of the term, Darren Glass refusing to step back off the mark sparked six successive majors to Carlton coming from a free kick or 50m penalty.

The eight unanswered goals equated exactly to Carlton’s 48-point halftime lead - and the boos for Judd from the home side were redirected at the umpires, without merit.

Eddie Betts’ first took lead past 50 points, until Kennedy’s quick double showed Eagles’ fans they did get something in return for their former captain.

That sparked some much needed fight from the home side, with Andrew Embley, Armstrong and Selwood - running off Judd - bringing the deficit within four straight kicks at the last change.

Lynch was again unable to produce one from almost within the goal square to begin the last term, but Rosa’s snap kept the game alive, until Gibbs’ from Judd’s assist sealed the Blues’ first win in the west since beating Fremantle by a point in round one, 2001.

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