Stung by criticism over their hardness following last week’s abysmal loss to Collingwood, the Blues showed plenty of grit to belt another of their arch rivals 23.11 (149) to 9.19 (73) - ending a run of six straight losses to the Bombers.
The win consolidates Carlton’s place in the top eight and should ensure Brett Ratten’s side sees September action in 2010.
For Essendon, the match was a sorry return to the form that has plagued it for much of the second half of the season, with poor kicking for goal and turnovers proving costly.
Another lowlight for the Bombers was an arm injury to Alwyn Davey, with the small forward suffering a suspected break that could rule him out for the rest of the year.
But the night was a happy one for Carlton, which rebounded in dramatic fashion after a miserable run of outs in recent weeks.
Ratten, who six days earlier had said he had been embarrassed by his men, was full of praise for the character they showed.
“If that game could’ve been played on Monday, we would have asked for the ball to be bounced on Monday to redeem ourselves,” he said after the win.
“It felt like it’s been three weeks since we last played, so from that point it was great that we were Friday night - first up, get a chance, everyone will watch how we’re going to respond and to respond like that was really pleasing.”
Captain Chris Judd (27 disposals, one goal) led his team superbly, small forward Jeff Garlett (six goals) was lively all night but got his team going with three in the first term and Mitch Robinson’s role as a defensive forward on Dustin Fletcher was outstanding.
Essendon struggled to find four-quarter performers. Brent Stanton provided some run from the backline, youngster Travis Colyer battled away and Courtenay Dempsey was also okay.
But big guns Jobe Watson and Jason Winderlich faded after good starts and the match itself, which had had a bit of everything, petered out in the final term as the Blues really took control, booting 10 goals to one.
Earlier, the crowd had expected fireworks after Ratten questioned his team’s commitment and there were plenty of spiteful clashes.
Bomber David Hille had his number taken for high contact in the first term although the most memorable came on half time when almost every man on the field became embroiled in a melee. Bomber Sam Lonergan had his number taken from that fracas.
Carlton had led by 15 at the first break and stretched that to 22 at the main break after the Bombers - with Kyle Hardingham the chief offender - blew several chances to get themselves back into the contest.
While the Blues’ endeavour was of a far greater intensity than the previous week, their accuracy in front of goal proved the major difference early.
The third term saw the two teams trade goals. Both teams appeared to suffer from goal umpiring errors, although they didn’t have an impact on the result.
The margin remained 22 points at the last change and while Essendon coach Matthew Knights still thought his men a chance at that point, the Blues went bang with three goals in as many minutes to kill off their hopes.
Knights thought his side’s poor kicking for goal had been costly until the last break but was at a loss to explain the final-term fadeout. He also lamented his team’s dramatic form reversal from the previous week, when its run-and-gun style had upset St Kilda.
“If you look at the disposals I think there’s about eight disposals the difference and yet Carlton had 20 more inside 50s,” he said.
“It just demonstrates that Carlton were really efficient, they were direct. It shows that we mucked around with the ball and not decisive.”
With the pressure valve released, Carlton can now look forward to a clash with Richmond next week while Essendon must regroup before next Friday night’s clash with Collingwood.
Essendon 3.6 5.13 8.16 9.19 (73)
Carlton 6.3 10.5 13.8 23.11 (149)
GOALS
Essendon: Hardingham 2, Colyer, Hille, Monfries, Prismall, Reimers, Stanton, Winderlich
Carlton: Garlett 6, Waite 4, Robinson 2, Carrazzo 2, Betts, Bower, Ellard, Grigg, Hampson, Joseph, Judd, Murphy, Simpson
BEST
Essendon: Stanton, Hardingham, Colyer, Hurley
Carlton: Garlett, Judd, Grigg, Robinson, Warnock, Waite, Ellard
INJURIES
Essendon: Davey (suspected broken ulna), Fletcher (hamstring tightness)
Carlton: Nil
Reports: Hille (Essendon) for engaging in rough conduct against Robinson (Carlton) in first quarter by umpire Pannell; Lonergan (Essendon) for engaging in rough conduct against Warnock (Carlton) during half time by boundary umpire Gibson
Umpires: McBurney, Meredith, Pannell
Official crowd: 57,095 at the MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
