WEST COAST 2.4 Â 5.7 Â 10.8 Â 12.10 (82)
CARLTON 1.2 Â 3.3 Â 6.5 Â 11.9 (75)
Goals: West Coast: J Cripps 3 E Yeo 2 J Kennedy 2 M LeCras 2 J Hill L Shuey W Schofield. Carlton: B Gibbs 2 J Weitering 2 C Curnow D Buckley E Curnow J Silvagni M Wright P Cripps S Kerridge.
Best: West Coast: A Gaff, J Cripps, M LeCras, M Priddis, E Yeo, J McGovern, S Lycett. Carlton: P Cripps, S Docherty, K Simpson, S White, S Kerridge, E Curnow
Umpires: Matt Stevic, Ben Ryan, Jack Edwards.
Official Crowd: 26,389 at MCG.
Joe Biden's never seen a better AFL game than he did at the MCG on Sunday.
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Eagles defeat Carlton in tight contest
West Coast scraped home by 7-points over Carlton, although they missed a chance to return to the top-four.
There was much hype about the visit of the US vice president, but at half time it seemed the Secret Service deserved a talking to for allowing their man to be subjected to an error-riddled, largely forgettable hour of football. But had he left at half time, Biden would have erred. He would not have taken into account the spirit of a rising Carlton outfit that kept coming until the final siren, and might well have beaten last year's grand finalists West Coast, had the game gone an extra five minutes.
Seeking to avoid a fifth straight loss, the Blues conceded the game's first score, and trailed thereafter. But roused by second-half cameos from youngsters Jacob Weitering, Charlie Curnow and Patrick Cripps, the Blues twice gave hope to their fans that an unlikely comeback was possible.
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Curnow's set shot early in time on of the third quarter brought the underdogs to within 15 points. Carlton's limitations were then laid bare when turnovers from Liam Sumner, Simon White and Kristian Jaksch respectively resulted in three consecutive Eagles goals. It looked enough to all but kill off the Blues' chances and secure West Coast four vital points in the race for a top-four spot.
But despite being 29 points down 10 minutes into the final term, the Blues refused to surrender. Cripps had 14 disposals and eight clearances in the last quarter, combining with Bryce Gibbs and Sam Docherty to haul Carlton to within seven points when time beat them.
It meant the Eagles got their first win in Victoria for 52 weeks - but it is unlikely to generate any great confidence that they can come back and win here in September, especially if a thumb injury suffered by Jeremy McGovern proves to be serious.
The exciting finish overshadowed an ugly start. Two statistics summed up proceedings at quarter time. The Blues led uncontested marks 29-15, but the inside 50 count favoured the Eagles 14-7. In effect, an inordinate amount of time was spent with the Blues chipping the ball around their back half, gaining meaningless disposals. And yet for all their toil in defence, Carlton didn't get around to covering Andrew Gaff or Mark LeCras, both of whom marked uncontested within range before the latter sunk the game's opening goal. It was one of just three majors during a tedious stanza. Josh Hill rose at the back of a pack before slotting his team's second from the pocket, and the Blues needed tagger Ed Curnow to deliver their sole goal of the term. Andrew Phillips and Jack Silvagni had four shots between them by quarter time, but could muster only a combined 0.2.
The Eagles threatened to make Carlton pay early in the second term, but their five straight inside 50s were fruitless. The Blues hadn't shown much to that point to suggest they would provide even nuisance value, but at long last they found some verve in the form of a daring Kade Simpson run. The veteran broke the lines, creating a chance for Silvagni, who this time took his chance. But it was a rare moment of spark for the Blues, and the Eagles - although a long way from their best - had enough answers. Backman Will Schofield drifted forward to outmark Liam Sumner and kick his first goal since round 21, 2013. Playing against his former side, Josh Kennedy had been enduring another quiet day on the road - a far cry from his 10 goals at Domain Stadium when these teams last met. But having beaten Sam Rowe in the air, the Coleman medallist took his chance. And Jamie Cripps provided the individual highlight of the day as he snapped brilliantly while rising from the deck. Playing his first senior game in 12 weeks, Dylan Buckley goaled off a step from 55 metres on the cusp of half time. It kept Carlton in touch.
LeCras and Cripps kicked the first two goals of the second half - the latter of which came on the back of a 50 metre penalty. The Blues could have folded, but true to their form under Brendon Bolton, Carlton stuck at it. Having suffered a nasty corky early in the day, Weitering bravely played on with a bandaged calf. Swung forward, he took advantage of a mis-match with Patrick McGinnity to mark and goal. Patrick Cripps - hitherto subdued - failed to take advantage of a 50 metre penalty that brought him within range, but Curnow the younger converted moments later.
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