CARLTON has beaten ladder-leaders Collingwood by 17 points at the MCG on Friday night, handing the Magpies their third loss of the 2023 home and away season.
A five-goal second half from Charlie Curnow kept the Blues' winning streak alive, winning 14.9 (93) to Collingwood's 10.16 (76) at a packed MCG.
MAGPIES v BLUES Full match coverage and stats
Curnow finished the game with six goals from 15 disposals and five marks to remain atop the Coleman Medal leaderboard.
It was a worried start for Carlton, with Collingwood powerful out of stoppage, creating space in attack and dominating the air to quickly get out to a 14-point lead before the Blues could hit the scoreboard.
The Pies used short kicks to calmly move inside 50, exposing some disorganisation in the Carlton defence. But once the Blues found some territory, they were able to intercept the Pies' attempts to exit and turn up the pressure. By lowering their eyes going inside 50, Carlton was able to minimise the impact of interception kings Darcy Moore (16 disposals, 10 intercepts) and Nathan Murphy (13 disposals, nine intercepts).
Ill-discipline, however, did let Carlton down. Every time they grabbed control of the game, playing in the forward half and trapping Collingwood in defence, the Blues would give away the ball with unnecessary free kicks and 50m penalties.
Collingwood worked to stretch an undersized Carlton defence. Darcy Cameron (31 hitouts, 12 disposals, one goal) forced opposing rucks Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning to defend grimly, Dan McStay (two goals, seven marks) exploited some mismatches on direct opponents, and when Mason Cox was subbed off due a lack of impact, Jeremy Howe was moved into attack in the final quarter and had his first multiple-goal game since 2016.
The Blues were only saved by some wayward shots on goal from the Pies. Beau McCreery missed two shots, as did Jamie Elliott, while some peppering in the third quarter failed to narrow the half-time margin.
A one-on-one match-up between Collingwood captain Darcy Moore and Curnow was entertaining all night as it ebbed and flowed. At times it was Moore's strong intercept marking on show, at others it was Curnow effectively finding the ground ball.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Jacob Weitering (18 disposals, 11 marks, 10 intercepts) had one of his best games for the season, ever-present on the desperate last line to set the standard for his fellow defenders.
Howe'd that happen?
The last time Jeremy Howe kicked three goals in a game was in round 10 in 2015 - ironically against Collingwood - and a late surge from the defender-turned-forward looked set to kick-start yet another Pies comeback. With Mason Cox subbed out of the game in the third quarter, Howe was spun forward to force Carlton's defence to remain accountable to several marking targets. In a team that struggled to find the goals all night, he was deadly in attack, kicking three majors in the final quarter to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
COLLINGWOOD 3.4 4.6 6.11 10.16 (76)
CARLTON 3.4 7.5 10.6 14.9 (93)
GOALS
Collingwood: McStay 2, Howe 3, De Goey, Cameron, McCreery, J.Daicos, Adams
Carlton: Curnow 6, Martin 3, Motlop 2, McGovern, Owies, Cincotta
BEST
Collingwood: Moore, J.Daicos, Murphy, Howe, N.Daicos, De Goey
Carlton: Cripps, Newman, Weitering, Motlop, Hollands, Cerra
INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
Carlton: Adam Cerra (hamstring)
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Will Hoskin-Elliott (replaced Mason Cox in the third quarter)
Carlton: Paddy Dow (replaced Adam Cerra in the third quarter)
Crowd: 86,785
