My apologies if this topic has been flogged to the death in the past, I am rather new to the forum here at 'Talking Carlton' and have been thinking of some topics to post or talk over.

It got me thinkin' about the many Carlton matches I have been to, and what I rate at the top three that I have seen (excluding Grand Final matches to make it a bit harder!)

3. Carlton v Hawthorn - Round 3, 1993

The first match that I attended in a long time, my parents forced me to go to the football as I originally was not interested. By the end of the game I was hooked and wanted to come back for more. I remember borrowing the binoculars from the Hawthorn supporter next to me to see how much time had passed on the old scoreboard in the outer. I have the lasting memory of Kernahan kicking the goal to put us in front and the Carlton Cheer Squad (and Heatley Stand) going ape s***!

2. Carlton v West Coast - Round 22, 1994

The gates were locked at 1.30pm and we could not even get into the ground until we flashed our reserved seat cards. Once inside the ground it was packed to the rafters... we took our seats in the Gardner Stand (still one of the best spots to watch football at P-Park). One of the best games I have seen Carlton play, from the Bradley goal to the complete domination of the eventual 1994 Premier. Still have to look at getting that game on DVD as well to relive all the great moments!

1. Carlton v Essendon* - Preliminary Final, 1999

Best game I have ever seen us play by a mile... it had EVERYTHING. After hating Essendon* with a passion since 1993 wanted to get them back in the best manner. The seats were fantastic (had Level 2 in the Southern Stand, first bay of Carlton supporters, on my right were three bays of Essendon* SCUM).

Still remember yelling out when Lance took the mark near the 50m line "just go back and kick it... have a go!" and sure enough he did!! The goals to Fraser Brown and Matthew Lappin were both class and I knew we were on our way back and would hopefully win the game...

Nearing the end of the game, Mercuri had a shot on goal... I was repeatedly yelling "No" at the top of my voice (couldn't think of anything more appropriate?) and luckily he missed. When we cleared the ball and amongst the mayhem I could hear a count-down and we won!

I am proud to say it is one of the only football matches I have been to where I have hugged complete strangers and actually cried with tears of joy when the siren went. Luckily I was also there with my brother and father... will never ever forget the celebrations and joy afterwards. Nothing better than beating the Scum in a Preliminary Final by 1 POINT.

1. Carlton v Essendon*, 1999 Preliminary Final, MCG
2. Carlton v Essendon*, 1999 Preliminary Final, Replay on Ch 7
3. Carlton v Essendon*, 1999 Preliminary Final, Taped replay on VCR

too hard for me to name only 3, I could try and break it up into top 3 at PP, MCG & even Waverley.

PP:

3. Carlton V St Kilda 1992 (I think) This was the game when Sticks kicked 10 goals, including one where he handballed to himself on the boundary line (around Morris I think) and nailed a great goal. I also think at the end of the game Locket decked Hogg after the siren?

2. Carlton v Collingwood - last suburban game - to thrash them by that many points was all I could have wanted

1. A tie between Carlton v Eagles in 1994 & Carlton v Geelong in 1995


MCG.

3. Carlton v Essendon* 99 prelim

2. Carlton 87' flag

1. Carlton 95 flag

sorry if that was too predictable

Waverley:

3. Carlton v Essendon* - Anzac Day 1986? yes we played on ANZAZ day quite regularly when there was justice in this world! Came home against the wind but managed to beat them against the odds, Motley played a great game this day.

2. Carlton v Adelaide 1993 - was a crap game, but the feeling I had when the siren went & to realise that we were in the grand final was fantastic

1. Carlton v Collingwood - I think it was in 1992? In the dying moments Kernahan rucked to Andrew Philips who snapped from the scoreboard end far pocket (opp the members) a great win at the time, went completely nuts.

Honourable mentions: I went to the first game we played in Adelaide - it was their first loss, a great moment in history.

I also went to the last game we played at Windy Hole, a fantastic win, does anyone else remember this one? Winning away was so special in the good old days

_________________
Between our dreams and actions lies this world

..

3. Carlton - Essendon* - 99 Prelim
2. Carlton - Geelong - 95 GF
1. Carlton GF 2008

I won't list finals, because I think we'd all agree that nothing surpases being there for a grand final win. So... top 3 home & away:

1994 vs West Coast at Princes Park
Bradley's goal... two teams at the top of their powers going at each other all day long in a great contest. A great game of football.

1994/5 v Geelong at Princes Park
Can't remember exactly when this was, but I do remember sitting right behind the goals at the social club end, being treated to an enthralling SOS vs Ablett contest for the two quarters they kicked downt that end. From memory it was a great tight game which we won, but I feel very lucky indeed to have witnessed those two greats of the game battle it out for an hour not 10 feet from me.

1993 vs Essendon* THE DRAWN GAME at the MCG
Big stage, drama, good attacking free-spirited football, and the most dramatic of endings. The main reason I selected this game is that, even at the time, it felt like our team was about to do something special after what then seemed like ages in the doldrums (oh, how little we knew!)... that day it felt like we'd been a part of something special, and were back on the big stage.

That's 3, but there have been so many more.

Cracking game, definitely 92.

Not sure if Sticks kicked ten though - think it may have been around the six mark.

Luke O'Sullivan tore the Saints a new arsehole that day. Kicked a couple of huge left footers on the run.

_________________
Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

99 prelim
95 gf
2004 crows game at AAMI


games that i was actually at though...

2004 last game of the season beating the pies by 1 point meant so much to me at the time...

bradles 300 coz i got to go with my grandfather who only went to 2 matches in his life....the first being braddles first ever game and the last being his 300th...

and 2001 beating the bombers without sos...kouta...bradles and allan.

What Pauly said.

_________________
Witty signature required.

lol yeah i remember running home to tape the replay... found it hard cos i was shaking when i was using the remote control.

my top 3 are:

1. Carlton v Essendon*, 1999 Preliminary Final
2. Carlton v Adelaide, 1998 Round 16 (first time i lost my voice watching the TV)
3. Carlton v Essendon*, 1995 Round 10 (the game that made me a true blue supporter..... the Essendon* supporters sitting behind me through out the game could have caused that, lol)

I won't include finals either.

1. 1995 at Subi v West Coast:
Reigning Premier against the Premiership favorite. Awesome game from start to finish and McKenna would still be hurting from the duke's bump.

2. 1994 at PP v West Coast:
Top of the table clash and we smashed them. Most enjoyable day I've ever had at the footy as I like many Carlton fans thought the premiership was ours.

3. 2000 at MCG v Essenscum:
We lost the game but it was a great contest for the biggest home and away game I can ever remember. At times we looked the better team but in the end we ran out of legs and left us wondering what if the great man didn't go down that night.

_________________
"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

Have significantly reworked this list to cut it down from my top 10 footy matches of all time to my Top 3 Carlton matches, ignoring GFs and finals:

1. 05H&A - BluesvDees@Product Name Oval .. Even though we didn't win, it was an experience I'll never get over ... my first and last match at my personal Mecca

2. 04WizCupR1 - Car 150 Syd 48 - My first experience of a real-life Carlton win. Just saw it again today on Duckpond .. didn't realise how much we won by! Pity we got done by the Cats the following week (see also 95GF)

3. 06H&A (Car-Ess draw) - We needed this win, and when 19EB booted the draw, I really didn't care. The way we were going at that time of the year, two points were just as good as four! Pity (or is it?) we got the spoon at the end of it.

There .. more succinct, and meets the criteria of 3 matches ..

_________________
[Sam Jacobs] looks like a 7' Lance Whitnall, and [Mitch Robinson] looks like a 4' Lance Whitnall
(The SEN team during the Carlton v Cats 2009 pre-season match)

OK, like a few others I will ignore finals.

1) for me the best "being a Carlton supporter" moment was not long after I moved to Perth to live, I think the game must have been in 1997 at Subi, it was a Friday night game and one of my mates flew over from Melb for the game. We played golf during the day and got to the Subi hotel far too early. We won the game, SOS belted Ilya Grgic off the ball and we won by less than a goal. Walking out of the ground singing the song arm in arm was one of the highlights of being a CFC supporter. Then my mate fell over in front of a heap of WCE (who don't take losing well at all) and badly sprained his ankle so I had to piggy back him to the pub. He couldn't walk for a week but it was worth it.

2) the tied game vs Essendon* at the G in 1993 - grat game but horible finish.

3) game at Waverly vs Saints I think it was 1991 or 1992 when Dorotich was moved to CHF in the second half and we came back to win. I got shat on by a seagul for the second week in a row but we won the game so it was all good. I think Plugger gave SOS a bath but I can't remember that bit too well.


Great thread!

_________________
I'm shocked to be sitting here

like kingkerna, i broke it up into top 3 for each Victorian Ground.


Optus Oval-
1. The 2005 Farewell Match Vs. Melbourne...Even though i'll sadly remember this game for Ryan Houlihan stepping out of a front-on contest in a game where the entire history of the jumper he was wearing was at stake, the team showed some spirit, and the John Nicholls/Kouta moment after the match is a football moment for the ages.

2. Vs. West Coast 1999...We won by 110 points...and our rotating forwardline of Silvagni, Whitnall, Beaumont, Hamill, and Kouta kicked 18 between them..

3. Vs. West Coast 2004...Andy Walker's debut game...a star is born!

Telstra Dome-
1. Vs. West Coast, Wizard Cup 2005...Prendegast's 9 pointer, Lappin's speccie, Fevola's 7, Stevens domination of the match...it all went right.

2. Vs. Melbourne 2006...Fevola again dominates, and the best Victorian Based team get their 2nd defeat of the season to the wooden spooners!

3. Vs. Essendon* 2005 & 2007 Wizard Cup first rounds...Any victory over this mob gets on the charts

MCG-
1. Vs. Geelong '95 Grand Final...My 7th Birthday present was tickets to this match...best birthday EVER!

2. Vs. Essendon* '99 Prelim....Every Carlton fan loves this match...Fraser Brown's tackle will live in our memories forever.

3. Vs. Collingwood round 22, 2004....We won by 1 point, and therefore, cost them a finals spot!

_________________
Cuck Follingwood

The Day Winmar went nuts!!

The Day Mad Dog went nuts!!

The Day Milburn went so nuts he tried to take on the players, trainers and the entire social club in a 5 minute no holds barred, texas Hold em chainsaw cage match!

Oh and the days

Bradley Kicked a ripper at PP

Minton Connell kicked a ripper against the WEAGLES at PP

The Day the Heatley stand roared and the Grog squad stayed till after dark screaming 1 word..... that word BUZZA!

_________________
Stay tuned We're in for a BUMPY ride

I think you meant great men (plural). IIRC, Bradley pinged a hamstring early in the game as well.

It was a brave effort without Kouta and Bradley on the park - this game effectively meant the Kouta of old (ie. dominating games on his own) was no longer as he continually had knee problems later in his career thanks to Jason Johnson and Matthew Knights).

In fact this game was the beginning of the end of our 2000 campaign - injuries to key players took their toll on the team despite meeting the scum again on prelim final day, for the second year running - boy, were the scum supporters nervous that day after what happened the year before

I remember the build up to this game - it was billed as one of the biggest H&A matches ever - 1 vs 2 and two traditional victorian rivals.

_________________
For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

1999 prelim was one of the best recent games - but as someone has mentioned previously one of our best wins is soon to come.

Id say 2008 or 2009..

On that day, the Carlton faithful will be openly weeping - with joy.

_________________
My Blue Heaven

i was there for all of those

_________________
Oompa loompa doompety dee
If you are wise you'll listen to me

Thanks for a great read!

This is so bloody hard, nice to see I'm not the only one to dishonour the 3 game limit

Like others I won't consider finals matches to keep it interesting...& I'll disregard matches already mentioned to cut out repetition (even though there's nothing wrong with that sort of blue blooded backslapping )

1989 - vs St Kilda at PP. Kernahan 10, Winmar 9. We won by a point! I can remember Kenny Sheldon lining up in the back pocket for the Saints that day & turning to the Carlton crowd & laughing when they were giving him some good natured shit over the fence

1990 - vs Geelong at PP. The game I always crap on about in these threads . 41 points down at half time, we won by 19. Sticks 5 goals in the 3rd qtr. I lived in Geel at the time so it was sooooo sweet. AGRO Jr born that day IIRC

1992 - Centenary match v Coll under lights at the G. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. The first big crowd in the Great Southern Stand, 83k. Kernahan 7 goals as we [REDACTED] up their love in

1995 - vs Rich MCG. 85k. Beautiful weather & an awesome atmosphere. After a string of big MCG matches in the 90s against Ess & Coll there was just something about a massive game against the Tigers. We put our foot down in the final qtr of a gripping game with Braddles kicking the sealer on the run. Lived with Tiger supporters at the time & loved it.

2000 - vs Rich, MCG. Can't recall much of the game but we kept them out of the finals, exacting revenge for them doing same to us in 97.

2004 vs WCE at PP - Watching a bloke called Andrew Walker debut under cloudy skies & taking us over 39.5 points at something ridiculous like $7.50

2005 Wiz Cup vs Ess at TD - Cannot recall a great deal about the game but met heaps of TCers for the first time & drank heaps of beer together, it was a great night.

2008 GF - Not sure what stands out the most but certainly Fev's 7 goals straight, Walker's run along the boundary bouncing 6 times and then slotting it from the impossible angle with a wrong foot banana, and Murph's smother, one handed pickup, shrug off of the tackle and calmly passing to JFK alone in the goal square for the 10th goal of the 2nd quarter were highlights.