Carlton's efforts to broaden their supporter base by playing out of Bob Jane got off to a disappointing start in a rematch of the preliminary final last sesaon.
There were at most 1,000 people for a contest versus teams that finished 1st and 3rd last season. Carlton's 4 year contract with Nike expires at the end of this season. It is to be hoped that club officials bit the bullet and look for a new major sponsor, with consequent name change.
In May, Wollongong had survived a first half bombardment to advance to the Grand Final. 6 months forward and little changed. A sparkling first half from Carlton left the blue boys in pole position to take 3 points.
Carlton made the advantage despite playing with 10 men. Referee Eddie Lennie made an atrocious decision to send off Andrew Marth for an utterly insignifcant 'stand up glare down' incident. It looked a poor decision and much worse when the replay was shown.
The Blues recovered from the setback to score an excellent set piece goal. Lapansky swung a corner over to McPherson, who headed down gently for Thompson to acrobatically swivel and blast past Beltrame. Thompson is perhaps the best player in the competition at the moment and pushing hard for the Socceroo squad to face Scotland.
Wollongong struggled to get into the game, with Carlton's 5 man midfield negating the breakaway threat of Menillo and Chipperfield. The latter had a poor first half, losing a war of attrition with Vasilevski.
Their best chance came when Young struck a monster rocket that bounced off an unsighted Anastasiadis' chest and over the bar. It was a phenomenal effort from the Englishman.
Wollongong would probably decline to mention what went on in their dressing room at half time. Whatever, it worked.
Carving long balls finally found the wide men. Chipperfield in particular was devastating. One sublime run took him past 3 Carlton men before the 4th took him down.
Shaping up for the kick, Wollongong made a false start then quickly tapped to Young. The Englishman struck another monster rocket that was past Anastasiadis and in the net before the keeper even thought about moving.
Wollongong had the upper hand as a desperate Carlton were forced deeper and deeper. Lapansky dribbled into a dead end, the ball taken off him and forwards. The cross was half cleared, but only to Stanton, who made no mistake.
Carlton were in turmoil, Wollongong delighted. Murno took off Vasilevski - losing badly against the dribbler Chipperfield, but the horse had bolted.
Or had it? There was barely time on the clock as Thompson and Motsiopoulos worked the ball towards goal. Motsiopoulos laid off for Terminello to kill with his left and shoot with his right off the far post and in.
Both teams were slumped over at the final whistle. Carlton in sheer exhaustion, Wollongong in despair. Both of these teams proved something today.