| Venue: Arden St | Date: Saturday August 31, 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Result: Win by 43 points | Umpire:Boyd | Crowd: 13,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Goalkickers: A.Clarke 5, H.Vallence 4, R.Cooper 2, A.De Luca 2, G.Collard 1, F.Gilby 1, W.Mutimer 1. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best: J. Francis, E. Huxtable, A. Clarke, C. Davey, R. Cooper, K. Shea | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Reports: T. Pollock (attempted kicking) - not guilty, M. Crisp (pushing) - reprimanded | Injuries: A. De Luca (dislocated shoulder), H. Vallence (lacerated arm infected) | |||||||||||||||||||
Game Review
Carlton overpowered North Melbourne in a fierce encounter at Arden Street oval. Strong defence and a dominant midfield and ruck were the keys in powerful first and third quarters, when the Shinboners were kept goalless.
Three changes needed to be made to the side for this encounter. Mocha Johnson and Gordon Mackie were out with bruised thighs and Keith Dunn’s knee had not repaired. Alby De Luca and Wally Mutimer were brought in and George Collard was named as 19th man for his first senior game.
Carlton kicked with the aid of a strong northerly wind towards the Arden St end. Anderson defended an early North attack with a well-judged mark. He passed to Mutimer who kicked to Green for a behind to open the scoring. A second behind came from Vallence, who intercepted a North kick but just missed. A promising play from North was foiled by Davey who cleared to De Luca. His lightning pass went to Vallence, who punted long for the first goal. North were defending gamely but Carlton’s direct, long kicking game and the wind were proving very effective. De Luca snapped the second goal and then kicked another with a long punt kick after little defensive pressure was applied from North. It was rugged football with several players in the hands of trainers early. Shea and Davey were playing well in the middle, starting many forward movements. Clarke received a well-earned free kick and goaled, and followed up with Carlton’s fifth after being well shepherded by his teammates. Carlton was getting the benefit of the doubt with free kicks. The quarter time bell rang with North scoreless for the term and the Blues leading by 35 points.
Former Blue Alf Egan and future Blue Jack Wrout were involved in North’s first goal within a minute of the resumption. North had begun well and were doing all of the attacking. But three chances for goals were lost through kicking out of bounds. North had the fumbles and their kicking was poor. They were also directing their attacks through the forward pocket not favoured by the wind. Gill and Davey each stopped attacks on the goal line, before a lofty punt brought up the Shinboners’ second goal. Carlton’s first score didn’t come until the 20 minute mark, when Shea and Vallence combined to get the ball to Cooper, who goaled from a free kick. North responded with a goal from a free kick and then good teamwork resulted in their fourth goal. Play was fast and willing with neither team flinching in the heavy work. Three more attacks by North were wasted with two out of bounds and a behind. North’s defence was playing well but Clarke eluded his opponent to snap the seventh goal. North responded with their fifth goal, before Clarke registered Carlton’s eighth with an acute angle shot right on the half time bell. It had been an even quarter with little between the sides. With the wind, North had been into attack 23 times in the quarter, for 5-3, whereas the Blues went forward three times for three goals. 20 points to Carlton at the long break. Francis, Davey, Clarke, Huxtable and Shea were all playing well.
De Luca (dislocated shoulder) didn’t reappear after half time; his place being taken by first gamer Collard. North attacked early after a great mark to Wrout, but Anderson cleared the attack. From this, the ball made its way to Collard, who picked up from a scrimmage and goaled. A long shot at goal by Shea was stopped by North in the teeth of goal. Carlton’s rugged play had tired North, who were noticeably slower than in the first half. Confusion in the North defence allowed Mutimer in for an easy goal. A doubtful free to Clarke resulted in his fifth for the game. Carlton was keeping the forward line open, relying on quick, direct kicking to running players. Vallence snapped Carlton’s twelfth goal, before Cooper’s running shot made it eight goals in a row and a 50 point lead at the 15 minute mark of the term. It had become a very spiteful game with both sides guilty of playing the man and not the ball. A fierce scrimmage in front of the press box was broken up by wise heads from each side, but the game was being spoilt as a spectacle. Carlton, wasteful as well, scored five behinds in the last 10 minutes of the quarter and on the bell, North had been kept to just two behinds, leaving them 54 points in arrears at the last change.
Despite the large deficit, North was still fighting on and were unlucky to hit the post in their first attack. A nice mark brought up their sixth goal. The pace had slackened and a lot of the fire had gone out of the game. Francis brought Carlton forward with a good run around the gasometer wing, but only a behind was registered after a rough scrimmage in the goal square. North persisted and kicked their seventh from a clever snap, and when they goaled again moments later from a difficult angle, their hopes of an unlikely win rose. These were dashed when, after a chain of passes, Vallence kicked his third and when Gilby kicked a rare goal, the result was foregone. Vallence kicked another, the 16th, before two late goals to North, one right on the bell, made it a 43 point win to Carlton at the finish.
At the end of this round, Carlton was in third place with a percentage of 138.9, two points behind Collingwood and six points clear of Richmond. Carlton supporters were eyeing two important games in round 18. Top of the table South Melbourne were to play Richmond. A loss by the Tigers would put their finals spot in doubt if, in the other key game, St Kilda could defeat Collingwood by a good margin. This would also propel the Blues to second spot if they defeated Footscray. What Carlton didn’t want was a first semi-final against the bogey team Richmond, which seemed likely.
Footnote: Off field, football clubs are generally supportive of each other. Due to a combination of circumstances, North Melbourne was struggling financially at this time and in a gesture of goodwill, Carlton Vice-President J.V. O’Connor announced before the game, that he would move at the next Carlton board meeting that Carlton forego its share of the gate profits and donate these (approx. 40 pounds), to North.
Team
| B: | 6 Fred Gilby | 21 Frank Gill | 1 Frank Anderson |
| HB: | 9 Eric Huxtable | 10 Jim Francis | 11 Jack Hale |
| C: | 27 Clete Turner | 8 Keith Shea | 32 Bob Green |
| HF: | 16 Ted Pollock | 20 Alby De Luca | 12 Creswell 'Mickey' Crisp (vc) |
| F: | 26 Jim Park | 22 Harry Vallence | 31 Ansell Clarke |
| Ruck: | 17 Charlie Davey (c) | 3 Wally Mutimer | 19 Ron Cooper |
| 19th Man: | 13 George Collard | ||
| Coach: | Frank Maher | ||
Milestones
Debut: George CollardRound 16 | Round 18