Carlton coach Brendon Bolton got the response he was after without getting the upset win the Blues craved against Geelong at Kardinia Park.
Six days after Melbourne destroyed them by 109 points, Carlton trailed by just eight points in the final term on Saturday night before falling to an 11.7 (73) to 5.15 (45) defeat.
Early in their first visit to the Cattery since 1997, the situation looked grim for Bolton’s men.
The Cats banged on the first four goals of the evening, but the Blues showed a resolve they lacked against the Demons.
“They’ve got resilience and character … they’ve stuck really tight,” Bolton said.
“Even last year when we didn’t always win they were in the fight.
“And they’ve stayed in the fight (tonight) and that’s really important for them.
“They looked at (last week’s performance), they challenged each other. In other words, they owned their careers and that’s what I was so pleased about and today they owned their performances.
“But some critical contests hurt us – they score and we don’t.”
Still reeling from the news that skipper Marc Murphy will miss up to a month with a recurrence of a foot injury, the brave display was in stark contrast to the loss to the Demons.
Bolton was left to rue some wayward kicking for goal.
“We kicked 5.15 so there were plenty of opportunities to actually finish,” he said.
“They kicked 11.7, so there’s the ball game.
“We won the inside 50s (51-47), the tackles (75-71), so there were some opportunities to hit the scoreboard where we didn’t.”
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Round 5 of the AFL provided plenty of action, from big scorelines to upset wins and pressure starting to build on some clubs and coaches already.
