Excellent performance from the blue boys. Took apart a demoralised Brisbane, shut the game down and got rewarded with all 3 points.
I'm very happy with the local trend of oseas based players returning and implementing that European experience in the local game. Kossie was the first, and now the wave is coming back. Farina, Krncevic, Mitchell and Davidson all have significant impact upon their clubs. What really pleases me is that the players are aggressive arseholes and invariably play up front. Davidson aside that is. But Davo gets in on merit.
Krncevic and Farina. Krncevic and Mitchell. Mitchell and Farina. We've seen those lineups before. In the 80's, fighting for the striking roles on Arok's teams. 2 games is all it takes for Krncevic to revisit his old mates.
I should warn you about my match reports. They are often inaccurate. I realised this when reviewing the reports after watching the game. Two quotes in particular stand out, from Carlton-Adelaide and Lakers-UTS.
"Trimboli charged down a bouncing ball, the ball clearly hit his arm..."
and
"Marusic played in Stergiopolous..."
Sorry bout that!
Vlahos started off in favour of Allsopp, his spectacular diving header last week cementing his spot. Grella has recovered from injury, starts on the bech. Al Hunter - who would have given Carlton some much needed tactical insight - will return next week for the first Melbourne derby.
Carlton's main tactic is the short passing game centered around those two geniuses - Markovski and Marusic. Aggressive running from the flankers/midfield allows Jonesy to show off those knockoffs, or he turns, the runner having dragged the marker slightly out of position. Marusic relies more on his exceptional control. It's in this situation Lapansky is quietly emerging as the unsung hero of the midfield with tireless running and shielding to support Marusic.
It was a fast game, and as such the skill level dropped, it had to be the worst game I've seen technical-level wise, with abysmal passing and control. The effects of the player drain are starting to be felt.
Brisbane best chance of the night came early, Hews or Laybutt (whatta name) firing a rocket that brushed past the upright. Not far off.
Brisbane took the early running, but finished poorly (odd, given Brown, Farina and Harper). Carlton emerged in the latter stages of the first half, and never let go.
Brisbane played a poor ball in midfield that was intercepted and swept up to Vlahos, who turned inside and slotted casually home.
This isn't the Brisbane side I know. Where are the counterattacks that send the Cranney kiddies charging pell mell down the wing? Their game seems to rely on Harper (of all people) attempting to dribble up from midfield to lay it off to Farina or Brown. Doesn't work, Cervinksi simply steps up and closes down whenever Harper puts a dodgy touch on the ball (which is frequent).
Farina's (I'm beginning to say his name in the way which rhymes with 'Carolina') best effort came after dribbling in from the left and sending it over. Yawner.
V... Farina got book for a late tackle - important as it happened.
Jonesy is quiet, I doubt he had the stamina to last in the heat. Needs to recover strength after losing his inner child during the offseason. Jonesy's best effort came from near the touchline when he volleyed over. But he aint no Marco Van Basten.
Brisbane's defence with Bolton in the sticks is a joke. He let a routine shot slip through his arms last week. In the 2nd half, he came out for a cross, decided it was going too high and watched as Jonesy headed wide. 10 mins later, from the other direction, goes up for the cross, misses by more than a Harper pass. Add to that some shocking kicking out (2 shanks and 5 scuds in the second half alone, and Brisbane have some problems.)
Farina is sent off after targeting Cervinksi's non-kicking leg. A disgraceful foul, luckily Cervo had bent his knee so no major damage done.
So the blues bandwagon rolls on. Next stop at OO entertaining the Knights. I predict a gate of 8k, more likely 10k.