No doubting the fantastic effort from the boys coming back from 5 goals down - twice, but let's face it we were lucky. They kicked 2 goals 10 behinds in the last quarter. Yes I know we hit the post six times, but 12 scoring shots to 6 in the last is a reality check. 2 points was a bloody good outcome in the circumstances.

_________________
"Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost

See i disagree. Port were smashed last week they were the reigning premiers and had to show some pride. They exploded from the blocks after being stung into action and Kouta playing at CHB suited them.
When we got the match ups right and they fell back we were all over them like a rash.
There was an element of luck but in my opinion we were highly unlucky and should have won.
Port are a shadow of themselves currently.
The good thing about this season is its very even. Any team can beat any other on any given day. Richmond are proving that and Hawthorn did yesterday as well.
Carlton deserved a smash and grab in Adelaide last night.
Great commitment and if there is one thing a road trip will do is instill more togetherness in a team.
We need to lift alittle play smart footy and i truly believe we will come away from Freo with a win having us at 2-1-2 after 5.(Which is close to what we were hoping for after 5 anyway)

No luck involved in coming back from 4 goals twice

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

I think Port were Lucky to draw us.

You may have a point, but I reckon we should view it slightly differently. As Denis would say, lets worry about the things we can control. The last three weeks the kicking accuracy of our opponents has an influence on the game (sounds bloody obvious when you write it down, but you know what I mean). Apart from putting pressure on the opposition ball carrier when kicking for goal we cannot really control the accuracy of their kicking.

BUT...

We can control our own skill level, well, to a degree. In every game this year we have created the scoring opportunities to win each game. We could very well be 4-zip and sitting pretty on top of the ladder. What the coaching panel needs to do is work on making sure the team maximises its goal scoring chances. We should have won last night, we had enough of the football, won enough of the contested ball and had enough shots on goal. It was a good performance by the team, no doubt, but we simply MUST improve in that key aspect of kicking on goal.

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yep, agree CB

after 3 weeks of incredible accuracy against us we have a team that cant kick a goal to save themselves.

Mind you up until 3/4 they where 13.9 which is still pretty accurate.

But yes, we need to take our chances 3.6 in the third quarter probably cost us the game with a couple of them could have very easily been goals, so our accuracy in front of goal needs work. Also think late goals in the first and second quarters against us cost us as well.

I actually think we are in a pretty good position to be honest. We could very easily have been 4-0, as it is we are 1-1-2, so it isnt the end of the world.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Reading the forums last week - it was....

yeah, there where a few knives out last week.

but i was reasonably happy with us even last week.

I think, considering the opposition accuracy we faced in the first 3 games, we have shown vast improvment.

Last year - we struggled to kick 100+ points, this year we seem to do it easy, once we get a few of our guys back, Thorton, Livo etc.. our defence will get stronger and will conceed less points which will see us starting to get on top.

IF T-Bird and Livo had played the first few games i reckon we would be 4-0 and we would be flying, but they didnt and we are 1-1-2 and doing pretty well.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Hell yes. Very lucky! We were the better team on the night i think.

We should have won IMHO. I expected us to run away with it in the last and win by 3 or 4 goals. I thought we were fitter, had the better ball winners and a better game plan. They had many players under-done.

Our 22 should have beaten their 22 in the last 30 minutes as far as I am concerned.

Damn disappointed Several players dropped crucial marks in the last and affected several weak tackling efforts when the pressure was on. I know it happens but I'm pi**ed of it did. Hopefully those players will learn.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

Agreed. So long as our guys can learn from last night's experience and not let a winning situation go, I'll be happy(ish) with what we saw last night.

Making a mistake is fine. Repeating it is foolish.

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Maybe we were missing Campo????????

Look we have a very inexperienced football team.
We had 2 blokes playing their first game just returning from injury.

If you look at experience and youth we were up against it.
Their players have played in a heap of finals games and are the reigning premiers.
We did fantastically well..and in my opinion there were none better than Wiggo French and Houlla.
3 blokes that have copped alot in the last 3 years from us. (Not me- im a good judge )
Carrazzo looked more composed and did alot of hard work.
McGrath was a bit of a worry... he is playing too loose at the moment.
But overall im disappointed with a loss but you have to give them full marks this week.

Cazzesman,

You referring to Walker.
His dropped mark with 5 mintues to go was very disappointing as was some of his weak tackles.
Pity that Whitnall couldn't have hit a target with 90 seconds to go on that half bank flank

Agree on both counts. By the way, what was Brogan's free for from the resulting boundary throw-in?

DeLuca was facing him, not the ruck contest and was pinged for shepherding. Very soft free.

I think that both sides could justifiably argue that they deserved to win the game.

I honestly thought that after quarter time, we were the better side but at times made some bad errors and decisions. Port missed a few sitters and I watched the match but didn't realise that they kicked 2.10 in the last quarter until after the game.

I always thought that we just couldn't get the crucial goal which would have taken us to 2 goals up. We led by as much as 7 points and if we got the next goal to take it to 13 then I think we might have run away with it. Alas they hit back and it wasn't to be.

We certainly created enough chances to win but you always felt that Port got their goals a tad more easily than we did. Still we kicked over 100 for the third consecutive week, although to win with the defence as it is at the moment we have to kick big scores to win games.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

They were lucky, we were lucky, our boys played their hearts out, and Carrazzo can kick, and found it about 25 times during the night...

Good signs for the future!

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What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet
Woody Allen

Reminded me of Round 3 vs North last year when we also failed to kill the game when in front at the death.
With 90 seconds to go, the short kick in to Lance was the right option. However he needed to fanny about with it pretending to look for options and run the clock down by 20-25 seconds before passing it back to where it came from, etc,etc.
Unfortunately Lance just tried to clear the zone and went long to a contest and the rest is history.
We really do need to practice running down the clock for these situations...

I note that I am in the minority. So be it, that's what great about this forum - debate.

I agree we have a young team, who performed bloody well throughout the night. But at the death, we were poor. Stevens being smothered, Lance's long bomb, no cool heads down back to wind down the clock, and play for time.

We were lucky that they missed.

However, I agree that it was not luck that got us ahead, that was good decisions and great play once, as Synbad says, we got the match ups right. Then, we saw a glimpse of our future - poise and grand attacking footy.

There - a positive

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"Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost

The last two weeks there were posts suggesting it was our lack of defensive pressure that caused opposition teams to kick accurately.

Now that the opposition have kicked inaccurately, we're 'bloody lucky'.

It can only be one or the other...

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.