CARLTON 2.5 4.9 6.10 10.12 (72) FREMANTLE 2.5 4.8 6.12 9.14 (68)
Goals: Carlton: D Thomas 3, L Jones 2, B Gibbs, C Curnow, J Lamb, M Murphy, M Wright. Fremantle: H Crozier 2, M Walters 2, C Mayne, C Sutcliffe, J Griffin, M Taberner, N Fyfe.
BEST: Carlton: M Murphy, K Simpson, E Curnow, S Kerridge, M Wright, B Gibbs. Fremantle: M Barlow, L Neale, S Hill, L Spurr, M Walters, T Sheridan.
Umpires: Sam Hay, Luke Farmer, Brent Wallace.
Official Crowd: 34,796 at Domain Stadium.
More Sport Videos
- Video duration
- 01:31
Blues sink Dockers
- Video duration
- 00:48
Question of club attire awkward for Mitchell
- Video duration
- 01:36
Cotchin and Mitchell awarded 2012 Brownlow Medals
- Video duration
- 00:27
Carlisle feels sorry for Watson
- Video duration
- 00:35
Shane Yarran charged with assault.
- Video duration
- 00:27
Whitfield ban harsher than just six months
- Video duration
- 00:11
Whitfield different to Bombers
- Video duration
- 00:31
Mixed emotions for Cotchin and Mitchell
Blues sink Dockers
Carlton defeated the hapless Fremantle by four points on Sunday afternoon to register their first win of the season.
Don't worry about a week being a long time in football, what about 15 minutes?
Early in the final quarter at Domain Stadium on Sunday, Carlton forward Liam Jones may have been looking at his final moments as an AFL footballer.
His fourth possession for the game, a free kick, was a behind kicked from 40m out that could have given his side the lead against Fremantle.
He wasn't the only one struggling with accuracy, but he was struggling to get his hands on the ball at all.
By the end of the game though, he had two goals to his name after two big marks. He was being patted on the back by every one of his teammates who were enjoying a famous four-point won over the Dockers.
It was also Brendon Bolton's first win as a full-time senior coach.
On a weekend where we're asked not to forget our Anzacs who fought so valiantly in wars gone by, it's difficult to remember the Fremantle Dockers who battled to finish clear on top of the AFL ladder in 2015.
They fell to a new low on Sunday — bottom of the ladder after five rounds — winless!
And their injury list continues to mount.
Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe wasn't seen after half-time, reinjuring the left leg that he broke late last season.
Key defender Michael Johnson also limped from the ground late in the final term with an ankle injury, and although he returned to finish the game, he was clearly labouring.
While small forward Hayden Ballantyne finished the game, there were times in the opening half where a cork looked to have ended his day.
With away games to in-form Adelaide and Hawthorn in the next three weeks, either side of a visit to Perth by a much improved Greater Western Sydney, it's hard to see where that first win will come from.
While the Blues youngsters have been celebrated this year, it was their captain Marc Murphy, wearing a helmet after his big hit in the game against the Western Bulldogs last week, that got them going, with 13 touches in the opening term.
He was also in the thick of things in the final term when the game was on the line, kicking a crucial goal. Bryce Gibbs followed up with arguably the match-winner a minute later.
Scores were level at quarter-time due mainly to the efforts of Murphy. With Sam Kerridge taking over in the second term, the Blues led by a point at half-time and an upset was on the cards.
If only Jones had stood up earlier in the game, A few marks and a handful of goals would have cemented his spot for the rest of the season and decided this game a lot earlier.
The goals that did keep them in the game came from Dale Thomas – three of them, the last trickling over the line from a set shot 30 metres out with no Dockers defender standing on the line.
That told the story of the mindset of the Dockers.
If not for Lachie Neale's 35 touches and nine clearances, the Dockers would have been out of the game a lot earlier.
The turnovers in this game mounted faster than most other stats and only Stephen Hill's silky skills kept the Dockers in front in the third term.
It was as if this game was being played with a slippery ball, under immense pressure.
But the pressure was from the respective 0-4 starts and there was no rain.
Poll
Who was the player of round five in the AFL premiership season 2016?
Poll closed 29 Apr, 2016
Disclaimer: These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.