Carlton spoil Suns' 100th AFL match

Carlton have spoiled Gold Coast’s 100th AFL match celebration, with the Blues posting a 34-point win at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The 16th-placed Blues prevailed 14.19 (103) to 9.15 (69) against the last-placed Suns in a scrappy contest that often reflected the ladder positions of the respective teams.

The win was interim coach John Barker’s second, on the back of last week’s stunning upset of Port Adelaide, but he wasn’t nearly as effusive in his praise after the Blues ground out a result over the injury-depleted Suns.

“Wins are hard to come by … and we made it a little bit harder on ourselves with the way that we went about it today,” Barker said.

“I think there were some patches today where we weren’t quite as up for the fight.

“Good footy teams bring that stuff consistently from the start of games to the end.

“Our ball use was a little bit off at times as well but more importantly we need to bring a level of competitiveness in the contest more consistently.”

Carlton started well and grabbed an early break but it was the Suns who held a surprise 14-point lead after an encouraging first quarter where key targets Charlie Dixon and Tom Lynch hit the scoreboard.

Skipper Marc Murphy and young gun Patrick Cripps were important at the stoppages as Carlton snatched back the initiative in the second term, with a brilliant running goal from Irishman Zach Tuohy sparking a four-goal burst that set up a two-goal break for the Blues at halftime.

Dixon and Lynch continued to prove a handful for Carlton’s defenders but the Suns suffered a blow late in the quarter when Dixon, with four goals to his name, limped from the ground with an ankle injury and didn’t return.

The Blues pushed their advantage out to 23 points at three-quarter time, and while the Suns didn’t raise the white flag, they never looked like pegging back that margin as Carlton eased to their third win of the season.

Gold Coast midfielder Andrew Raines had a day to forget, which got worse in the final term when he was reported for striking Cripps.

With skipper Gary Ablett still missing with a shoulder injury, the Suns went into the clash desperately undermanned, which gave coach Rodney Eade an inkling of what was to come.

“I thought we were ok for a quarter and a half then for various reasons I thought we struggled to run,” Eade said.

“I think once Carlton got a bit of a sniff that we were struggling to run they grew a little bit.

“Most of our injuries have been to runners – in the last four weeks we’ve had five of our best six midfielders out – so we knew we were always going to struggle in that area.”

Carlton forward Troy Menzel struggled with a knee complaint during the match before being subbed out and will undergo scans to assess the severity of the issue.