BRENDAN Fevola was the hero as the Blues staged a 10-goal turnaround to beat the Bulldogs at Telstra Dome and keep their season alive.
Fevola kicked 6.5, moving within two goals of Coleman Medal leader Lance Franklin. His fifth goal put Carlton in front, nine minutes into the final term. His sixth, 10 minutes later, put the finish on a 28-point win, 18.18 (126) to 15.8 (98) – after the Blues had trailed by 37 points earlier in the half.
While Fev will take the plaudits, he was on the end of a midfield surge led by veterans Chris Judd and Nick Stevens, and recruits Bryce Gibbs and Marc Murphy. They seized control of the game late in the third term, allowing the Blues to kick the last nine goals of the match, while restricting the second-placed Dogs to just two behinds in the final term.
It was the second disastrous fourth quarter in a row for the Bulldogs, who were steamrolled by Geelong at Skilled Stadium last week.
Fevola was the villain early when he cost his side a certain goal, but he turned his night around with a brilliant display that included three goals in the last quarter.
Simon Wiggins put in a superb display in his 100th AFL match to finish with 17 disposals and four goals, while Judd (32 possessions), Stevens (31) and Murphy (28) were prolific around the stoppages.
Daniel Cross was important for the Bulldogs with 27 touches, as was Adam Cooney with 24, with Brad Johnson and Mitch Hahn each booting three goals.
Jarrad Waite spent most of the first term as a loose man in defence and successfully broke up several forward thrusts by the Bulldogs on his way to 10 possessions for the term. But the Blues were struggling just as much at the other end of the ground where the Dogs gathered in numbers to clog space.
No.1 draft pick Matthew Kreuzer was damaging in the second half, floating forward to kick three crucial goals.
Fevola was in the thick of the first-half action, although not for the reasons he would have liked.
Kreuzer guided through his side’s first goal with 10 minutes gone, with Wiggins adding his first soon after to help Carlton out to an eight-point lead.
Successive goals to Daniel Giansiracusa and Jarrod Harbrow restored the Dogs’ advantage, but then Fevola spurned a gilt-edged opportunity to send the Blues into the first break with the lead.
The big spearhead was set to have a shot from the goal square after being awarded a 50m penalty, but a bump on Brian Lake, his opponent all night, saw the umpire reverse his decision and allow the Bullies a five-point buffer at quarter time.
Fevola went some way to redeeming himself with his first goal soon after the restart, with Wiggins’ second putting his side back in front, but the Bulldogs got their running game up and going.
Josh Hill and Harbrow were proving dangerous with a goal each and despite Wiggins’ third, the Dogs piled on the last three goals of the half to increase their lead to 26 points at half time.
Alarm bells were ringing as the margin blew out to 37 points 12 minutes into the third quarter, but – led by Murphy, Stevens and Judd – the Blues dug deep and hit back hard.
Fevola added two more to his tally, Wiggins slotted his fourth and when Kreuzer converted a set shot earned after catching Andrejs Everitt holding the ball, Carlton had outscored the Dogs seven goals to five to trim the deficit to a manageable 11 points at the final change.
Dylan Addison limped off favouring his right leg in the first minute of the last quarter and the news continued to worsen for Rodney Eade’s men. Fevola missed his first two attempts on goal, but slammed through the next two to give his side the lead for the first time since the six-minute mark of the second quarter.
Eddie Betts' first and Kreuzer’s third gave Blues fans reason to hope, and when Fev bagged his sixth 20 minutes in, the comeback was complete.
The Blues travel to AAMI Stadium next week for an appointment with Adelaide, while the Bulldogs play the Sydney Swans in Canberra.
Western Bulldogs 3.3 10.4 15.6 15.8 (98)
Carlton 2.4 5.8 12.13 18.18 (126)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Hahn 3, Johnson 3, Harbrow 2, Hill 2, Boyd, Giansiracusa, Gilbee, Minson, Murphy
Carlton: Fevola 6, Wiggins 4, Kreuzer 3, Betts, Judd, Murphy, Stevens, Scotland
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Cross, Cooney, Gilbee, Boyd, Johnson, Griffen
Carlton: Judd, Stevens, Fevola, Murphy, Wiggins, Carrazzo, Scotland, Waite
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Addison (knee),Tom Williams (shoulder) replaced in selected side by Andrejs Everitt
Carlton: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Kennedy, Meredith, Avon
Official crowd: 37,879 at Telstra Dome
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
