Carlton has had a scare in the opening match of the 2011 season, coming home late to beat Richmond by 20 points at the MCG on Thursday night.
The Blues controlled the game early in the piece but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard kicking 2.8 in the first quarter to lead by just 2 points at the first change. Ratten’s men then slammed on 7 second quarter goals to open up a 22 point half time lead.
The Tigers hit back in the third term kicking 6 unanswered goals to take a 14 point lead into the last quarter, threatening a boil over. The six goal performance Coleman Medalist Jack Riewoldt wouldn’t be enough to save the Tigers as Carlton rallied in the final term to kick the last four majors of the game.
Carlton – 2.8, 9.10, 9.13, 14.20 (104)
Richmond – 3.0, 7.0, 13.3, 13.6 (84)
Goals
Carlton: Betts 3, Walker 2, Garlett 2, Murphy, Armfield, Carrazzo, Gibbs, Hampson, Judd, Curnow
Richmond: Riewoldt 6, Jackson 2, Morton 2, White, Graham, Vickery
Best
Carlton: Gibbs, Murphy, Robinson, Curnow, Simpson
Richmond: Riewoldt, Newman, Jackson, Graham, Cotchin
Injuries
Carlton: –
Richmond: –
Reports: Nil
Umpires: B.Rosebury, M.Stevic, M.Nicholls, S.Grun
Official crowd: 60,654 at the MCG
Dreamteam – Top 5
Bryce Gibbs – 147
Kade Simpson – 131
Mark Murphy – 127
Mitch Robinson – 118
Andrew Carrazzo – 110
