| Venue: Western Oval | Date: Saturday May 30, 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 35 points | Umpire: McMurray | Crowd: 15,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: H.Vallence 4, A.Clarke 2, M.Crisp 2, F.Anderson 1, R.Cooper 1, G.Dougherty 1, M.Johnson 1, K.Shea 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: F. Anderson, F. Gilby, K. Shea, R. Cooper, J. Carney, B. Green | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: | Injuries: G.Dougherty replaced Micky Crisp (groin) at three quarter time. | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
One can almost feel the wind at the old Western Oval with this scoreline. Carlton would nag one against the wind, and then effectively end the match in the second quarter with 8 to nil with the wind. Footscray would manage 4 in the third with the zephyr, but could not get within Carlton's score, and with the Blues having the benefit of the wind in the end, the game was over with the Blues 35 points up at the final siren.Strong winds and a determined Footscray side meant that Carlton had to battle all day to win by 35 points at Western Oval. The Blues broke away in the second term through superior ground play, pace and goal sense but for the rest of the game were pushed by the home side.
All players were out on the paddock on Thursday night. Injured players Frank Gill, Les Hughson and Wally Mutimer were all declared fit and Eric Huxtable was considered to be about two weeks away from resuming (he was named and played in the seconds). At selection, Pollock (injured) could not be considered and Frank Gill and Gordon Mackie were omitted on last week’s form. Into the side came Wally Mutimer, Clem Neeson on debut and George Dougherty as 19th man. Neeson is the nephew of Charlie Hardy, the Carlton seconds coach.
Threatening weather and strong winds kept the crowds down at all matches and made football difficult. Footscray won the toss and kicked with the strong breeze and were into attack early. Their first goal came from a snap from a pack and they followed up shortly after with another from a free kick. Carlton’s first attack came when Green brought the ball forward around the wings but he ran too far and was penalised. More Carlton attacks were turned by the strong Tricolour defence and from one rebound, a strong Footscray drive down the centre deserved more than hitting the post. Carlton looked ragged, and it was lucky that Footscray were fumbling and overusing the ball near goal. A nice piece of play saw Cooper and Davey work the ball around the wings for Crisp to have a shot, but he too hit the post. A Footscray player went down heavily in a pack and was replaced early in the game. Carlton finally goaled when Cooper, after receiving a free, handballed to Shea, whose low drop kick sailed straight through. Both sides’ defences were on top (Anderson and Gilby playing well), which was making scoring difficult. At this point, Vallence was being well held. Attacking again, Johnson hit the post from a free kick and then Footscray did the same thing twice; two attacks for two posters. At quarter time, Carlton trailed by eight points. Footscray had been the better side but had wasted valuable chances.
Carlton began the second term well, with Cooper receiving a handball and kicking long at an unguarded goal, where the ball bounced through. Counter-attacking, Footscray went forward but another shot hit the post. The wind had freshened, making kicking difficult but the Tricolour defence was able to keep Carlton out for some time. Maher now made three changes which had an instant effect on Carlton. Anderson was moved into attack, replacing Vallence at full forward, Vallence went to centre half forward and Gilby was moved to a loose man role across the centre. The breakthrough came when Clarke marked well out from goal and kicked the third goal with a beautiful drop kick to give the Blues the lead for the first time. Anderson followed quickly, picking up cleanly and driving a low drop kick through for goal four. Carlton was keeping the ball low to counter the wind and it seemed to be working. Now fully on the offensive, the Blues attacked incessantly, but Crisp and Clarke each missed easy shots. Shea also missed after some brilliant ground play, but a poor kickout from goal by Footscray went straight to Vallence who kicked his first with a soaring punt. Gilby was playing well in the centre, turning several Tricolour attacks. Keeping the pressure up, Carlton scored another two behinds before Vallence passed to Crisp, who goaled to make the lead 23 points. Clarke extended the lead when he intercepted a Footscray pass and goaled with a fine drop kick. Footscray finally got forward after some high marking, but finished poorly with only a behind. Finishing well, Carlton attacked again and Cooper forwarded to Johnson for goal eight. Then Crisp kicked off the ground from a scrimmage to give Carlton a 45 point lead at the main break after a dominant quarter (53 points to two). Anderson, Gilby, Shea and Cooper were Carlton’s best for the half.
The third quarter produced some of the brightest football of the day. Footscray were into attack first, but hit the post again. Another attack brought up their eighth behind, before a good mark in front resulted in the third goal. They followed up immediately, using handball well to kick their fourth goal and close the gap. It was all Footscray to this point. They had adopted a long kicking game and were marking well and using the breeze wisely, but some poor teamwork and kicking at crucial stages let them down. Another attack brought another poster and then Carlton followed suit with Vallence hitting the post. It was a game of strong defences, with forwards of each team having to battle hard for kicks. Late in the term, the Tricolours scored their fifth goal and a long kick just before the bell brought up the sixth goal to make the deficit just 16 points at three-quarter time.
Dougherty replaced Crisp (groin) at the change. The wind had abated and fighting desperately, Footscray had all the play early but only behinds came. The Tricolours were playing an extra man on the ball but struggled to break through. Carlton extended its lead when Dougherty ran into an open goal and kicked the tenth. Vallence followed up soon after with his second and when Carlton burst from the centre again, he marked and goaled to effectively seal the game. The Tricolours kept working hard but several promising moves were kept to behinds by Carlton’s strong defence. Vallence had come right into the game but two long punts scored only behinds. The light was fading rapidly as the term progressed. Footscray missed an easy chance at goal before Carlton attacked again for Vallence to mark smartly well out from goal. He made no mistake with a long kick to score Carlton’s 13th goal. Footscray was able to answer immediately with their ninth to get closer, but it was far too late and Carlton had a 35 point lead as the bell sounded.
Two interesting statistics came from the game. Only two goals were scored into the wind, and the goal posts were hit eleven times (six by Footscray and five by Carlton). At the end of this round Carlton were in 3rd spot on the ladder with a percentage of 151.8.
Team
| B: | 6 Fred Gilby | 26 Jim Park | 1 Frank Anderson |
| HB: | 11 Jack Hale | 10 Jim Francis (c) | 30 Clem Neeson |
| C: | 7 Jack Carney | 8 Keith Shea | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp (vc) | 3 Wally Mutimer | 15 Maurie Johnson |
| F: | 13 George Collard | 22 Harry Vallence | 19 Ron Cooper |
| Ruck: | 17 Charlie Davey | 14 Rod McLean | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| 19th Man: | 35 George Dougherty | ||
| Coach: | Frank Maher | ||
Milestones
50 Games: Bob GreenDebut: Clem Neeson
Round 4 | Round 6