The Roar
The Roar

AFL
Advertisement

Highlights: Crows survive Carlton challenge

Brad Crouch is a great player, but is he better than his brother? (AAP Image/Ben Macmahon)
Roar Guru
1st July, 2017
33

Adelaide have survived a huge scare from an extraordinarily gallant Carlton outfit, prevailing by 12 points in an arm-wrestle of a match at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

In a low scoring first quarter, it was Adelaide who eventually begun much more strongly, and the signs became ominous for the Blues pretty quickly.

Adelaide got the first couple of inside 50s while booting the Sherrin out on the full a couple of times.

Carlton looked good, but too many mistakes too quickly meant that Adelaide eventually broke their shackles and booted the first four goals of the match.

At one stage, all of the Crows’ goals were sourced from Carlton turnovers.

Carlton, to their credit, did manage to slow down the Crows scoring, while booting a goal of their own through youngster David Cunningham.

Still, it was the visitors who held an 18-point lead come quarter time.

The second quarter was much more entertaining, and the beginning of a Carlton resurgence that saw them boot four goals to the Crows two for the term.

Advertisement

Their tactic of slowing the game down was clearly working, and excellent goals from Sam Kerridge (a stunning kick from the centre square) and Patrick Cripps (a very strong mark followed by a suitably impressive goal) meant that the Blues had pegged back the margin to a very manageable six points at the main break.

The third quarter was more of the same: Carlton keepin’ on goin’, but Adelaide keeping the lead.

In a quarter that saw both teams boot three goals each, it was the visitors that slowly but surely got back on top as the clock towards three-quarter time.

It was a series of poor misses from the Crows which kept the Blues right in the game, and the stage was set at the final break for one hell of a final quarter.

And what a final quarter it was! A Sam Jacob’s goal very early saw the Crows take a 17-point lead, but Carlton weren’t going to settle for a loss.

Goals to Charlie Curnow and Dale Thomas – as well as an utterly ridiculous goal to Matthew Wright – meant the Blues took the lead.

Unfortunately for the dedicated Bluebaggers at the ‘G, it wasn’t to last, and a strong performance from the Crows meant that they eventually retook the lead, and finished off the game as victors.

Advertisement

The Blues were extremely well served by their biggest names – Bryce Gibbs (30 touches), Sam Docherty (30), Patrick Cripps (29) and Marc Murphy (29) were all prolific, while Levi Casboult and Gibbs were their only multiple goal kickers.

Charlie Curnow played an excellent game – contributing one goal, 22 touches and 11 marks, while the much maligned Liam Jones continued his resurgence with nine marks and 19 touches in another great performance in defence.

The Crouch brothers and Brodie Smith were their team’s best performers, with the trio all getting in the realm of 30 touches.

Josh Jenkins booted three goals in a nice performance, while also laying 13 tackles, while Betts and Riley Knight contributed two goals each.

Adelaide host the Western Bulldogs in an intriguing – not to mention very important Friday night match in South Australia next week, while the Blues play Melbourne at the ‘G on Sunday afternoon.

Final score
Carlton Blues 12.5.77
Adelaide Crows 13.11.89

close