Round 21, 2002

Carlton 9.3 57 11.5 71 13.7 85 15.9 99 Western Bulldogs 1.1 7 5.4 34 12.6 78 14.13 97	Venue: Docklands
Date: August 24, 2002	Result: Win by 2 points
Umpires: Quigley, Wenn, Jeffrey	Crowd: 22,938
Goalkickers: McKernan (4), Beaumont (2), Hickmott, Hotton, Houlihan, Mansfield, Cranage, Sporn, Wiggins, Doering, Murphy (1)
Reports: Fletcher (misconduct)- cleared	Injuries: McKernan (knee)

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Game Review

An outstanding nine goal to one first quarter appeared to give the Blues a match winning lead. The previously struggling Blues suddenly played with confidence and passion and hardly looked like a bottom of the ladder side. They were winning the ball out of the middle into the forward line and scoring repeated goals. Corey McKernan dominated Darcy and kicked 4 goals in that quarter, before succumbing to a knee injury.

Darcy took control of the ruck after that and got the Bulldogs back into the match. The Blues could only manage six goals for the remainder of the game- 2 in each quarter. The Dogs, after being down by as much as 56 points early in the second quarter, gradually reduced the margin, with a 4 goal second quarter and a 7 goal third quarter, to be just 7 points down at 3/4 time. Fortunately for the Blues, the Dogs never quite managed to head them but did get as close as 2 points late in the match. The Blues responded with Ryan Houlihan calmly centering a pass from deep in the forward pocket to Jordan Doering, who was just 15 metres directly in front of goal. He had no trouble kicking a goal to increase the buffer to eight points. The Dogs goaled shortly after but the Blues were able to hold on to secure a 2 point victory, just their third for the year.

Scott Camporeale had 24 possessions. Houlihan returned to form with 23, in a new role- playing off half back for the first time. Justin Murphy had 22, while Matthew Lappin had 20. Simon Beaumont was shifted to full forward and kicked 2 goals.

It was a blow to Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace, who resigned a few days later and would not coach them again.

Team

B:	34 Simon Wiggins	4 Luke Livingston	45 Anthony Franchina
HB:	33 Ryan Houlihan	32 Bret Thornton	39 Ang Christou
C:	12 Matthew Lappin	20 Andrew Eccles	9 Adrian Hickmott (a/c)
HF:	15 Sam Cranage	37 Trent Hotton	31 Simon Fletcher
F:	36 Trent Sporn	29 Simon Beaumont	28 Ian Prendergast
Ruck:	2 Corey McKernan	18 Justin Murphy	16 Scott Camporeale
Interchange:	10 Michael Mansfield	48 Jordan Doering	11 Lindsay Smith
	40 Jim Plunkett
Coach:	Wayne Brittain
Emg:	Adam Pickering	David Gallagher	Andrew Merrington
In:	Michael Mansfield, Lindsay Smith
Out:	Glenn Manton (broken leg), Andrew Merrington

Milestones

150 Games: Ang Christou

Brownlow Votes

3: Robert Murphy (WB)
2: Trent Sporn (CARL)
1: Luke Darcy (WB)

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Round 20 | Round 22

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