Denis Pagan’s second game in charge of Carlton has produced a marked improvement but still the same result as the Blues lack of height in defence again came back to haunt it against arch-rivals Collingwood at the MCG.

The Pies’ 16.11 (107) to 13.13 (91) victory might have been expected but it was no cakewalk for last year’s grand finalists against last year wooden spooners.

Carlton came into this game on the back of a humiliating first round loss to Sydney – a team widely tipped to struggle in 2003 - by more than 12 goals last week and against the might of Collingwood there were fears the Blues would suffer another hiding.

In fact the low expectations of Carlton fans was evident in the crowd as there were plenty of empty seats amongst the Blues’ annual reserved seating areas at the MCG which no doubt contributed to a slightly disappointing crowd of less than 52,000.

But those Blues fans that chose to go to the MCG will be feeling much better about their team’s prospects of rising up the ladder this season after a committed performance against the Magpies.

The fact that this much-improved showing by Carlton was ultimately not good enough owed more to the strength of the Magpies – particularly in attack – than any lack of effort from the Blues.

For the first half the Blues not only matched the Magpies but even looked on course for a shock win when the excellent Adrian Hickmott kicked the first goal of the third term to give Carlton an eight point lead.

And with Anthony Koutoufides playing some of his best football since 2000, as he finally looks to have recovered from his knee problem – the Blues appeared to have the Magpies’ rattled in the second term.

Koutoufides had ten kicks in the second quarter alone (as he finished with 24 touches) and with Scott Camporeale (26 possessions) also picking up plenty of touches and both Hickmott and Brendan Fevola looking dangerous in attack – the Blues deserved their two point lead at half-time.

And all this without number one ruckman Corey McKernan, who suffered a knee injury late in the first quarter.

But it was at the other end of the ground where Carlton again fell down as their lack of height in defence was brutally exposed by the powerful Collingwood attack.

Their quartet of marking forwards in Anthony Rocca, Andrew Williams, Chris Tarrant and Jarrad Molloy had taken 31 marks between them by three-quarter-time.

To put this dominance into context Carlton had taken a total of 29 marks to the same stage of the game.

Those four players also combined for ten goals and with goalsneaks Leon Davis and Alan Didak also combining for a further five – the Pies’ potent attack prevailed.

In particular the decision to trade for Williams – a player barely known outside of Perth during his days at West Coast – looks set to be one of the smartest pieces of recruiting this season.

With an ability to both take marks and play on the ground Williams has added another dimension to what was already a powerful Collingwood attack.

And as long as the likes of Nathan Buckley and Shane O’Bree (59 touches between them) continue to win as much of the ball in midfield as they did against the Blues – Collingwood will have no trouble kicking winning scores.

However the Blues’ also showed against Collingwood that their attack will trouble plenty of sides with the often-wayward Fevola looking a different player under Pagan as he kicked five goals to follow up on his excellent first game in Sydney while Hickmott also kicked five.

But until the Blues solve their problems at the other end they will continue to struggle to match it with the AFL’s best.

COLLINGWOOD: 5.4 8.5 12.10 16.11 (107)
CARLTON: 4.1 8.7 9.10 13.13 (91)

GOALS: Collingwood: Davis 3, Tarrant 3, Williams 3, Didak 2, Molloy 2, Rocca 2, Buckley
Carlton: Fevola 5, Hickmott 5, Fisher, Houlihan, Waite
BEST: Collingwood: Buckley, Williams, O’Bree, Tarrant, Rocca, McKee
Carlton: Hickmott, Fevola, Camporeale, Lappin, Koutoufides, Ratten
INJURIES: Collingwood: Cloke (ankle)
Carlton: McKernan (jarred knee)
CHANGES: Collingwood: Nil
Carlton: Nil
UMPIRES: Avon, Corcoran, McBurney
CROWD: 51,894