Blues dent Roos' top-four hopes with tenacious win
Carlton powers away to deflate North Melbourne in Friday night upset
CARLTON has all but shattered North Melbourne’s top-four dream, clinching a 23-point upset of the Roos at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
The Blues played with dare and dash, setting the tone from the outset in a 16.13 (109) to 13.8 (86) triumph.
Twin towers Lachie Henderson (six goals) – in his 100th game – and the recalled Jarrad Waite (four) led Carlton’s win, dominating in the air.
Waite, whose future at Visy Park has been the subject of much conjecture, showed he is anything but a spent force, covering the ground and leaping high for 10 marks.
Bryce Gibbs (27 possessions, two goals) then continued his excellent form since re-signing with Carlton, snapping a goal of the year contender to put the Blues ahead by 20 points.
But North steadied through Ben Cunnington (13 possessions, two goals) and Brent Harvey (20, two) and the margin was only nine points at the first change.
It wasn’t sufficient reward for the Blues and – after controlling most of the second quarter – they coughed up another handy advantage.
Carlton kicked four of the next six goals – including a team-lifter by Cameron Wood in his first game for the club – to lead by 23 points at the 20-minute mark.
But late goals from Thomas and Harvey, fresh off signing a one-year contract extension, lifted the Roos back to within striking distance at the long break.
While Mick Malthouse’s men kept North in the game in the third term, booting 1.6 to 4.0, but the Blues would not be denied.
Carlton hammered the final nail in North’s coffin with six straight majors to 2.4 in the last quarter.
“What we tried to do was just take a quarter at a time and really focus on that quarter,” Malthouse said after the match.
“I was a bit concerned about the third quarter, because this year so far North have outscored the opposition quite comfortably.”