Dogs hound brave Blues into submission

Carlton looked set to pull of the upset of the season on Sunday but star Bulldogs Josh Bruce and Marcus Bontempelli had other ideas.

Bontempelli’s Bulldogs broke Carlton’s hearts. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

In jaw-dropping fashion, a fast-finishing Western Bulldogs have overturned a 27-point deficit to produce a rousing triumph and maintain their top-two position.

The Bulldogs appeared down for the count late in the third term, but were suddenly sparked in the last quarter to slam home six goals to one, leaving the Blues stunned and stealing a 16-point win.

Marcus Bontempelli was instrumental in the comeback victory, combining 32 disposals with a goal, six marks and eight tackles, while Josh Bruce flexed his muscles with 11 marks (three contested) and a five-goal bag.

Earlier, Jordan Sweet opened the scoring with his first career goal, before Carlton answered through the ever-freakish Eddie Betts. The fan-favourite had Blues fans in early raptures, booting the ball home from mid-air after it spilt from a marking contest.

The Bulldogs took temporary hold of momentum, helped by neat set shot goals to Anthony Scott and Lachie Hunter, before Matthew Owies and then Betts, adding another major, propelled Carlton to an early one-point lead.

Josh Bruce then appeared to sneak a goal home from the pocket to reclaim the Dogs’ advantage. But as umpire Matthew Nicholls loaded up to bounce the ball in the centre and reset play, a late call from the ARC deemed the ball had brushed the post.

Betts, however, soon gave Dogs defenders headaches again, pouncing on a loose ball and goaling with a crafty left-foot snap from the pocket.

Only moments later, the 34-year-old marked at a tighter angle. This time, a well-guided right-foot snap meant he had four goals by the eight-minute mark of the second stanza as the Blues hit the lead.

Carlton extended the lead through Harry McKay and Owies, but failed to fully capture their momentum rush with Jack Silvagni, Levi Casboult and Lachie Fogarty all missing gettable shots on goal.

The Blues yet managed a commanding, five-goal-to-two second quarter, leading by two goals at the main break and again taking charge early in the third term through the brilliance of McKay.

McKay booted three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the half, powering the Blues to a healthy 25-point lead before Adam Treloar and Betts — kicking his fifth — exchanged majors.

Eddie Betts kicked five as the Blues looked set to pull off a major upset. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Late in the term, Naughton finally broke the shackles imposed on him by Jacob Weitering, taking a stirring pack mark at the top of the goal square to keep his team in the hunt at three-quarter time.

The Bulldogs then goaled through Hunter at the beginning of the final term, and minutes later, Marcus Bontempelli took an assertive pack mark before converting the set shot, dragging the margin back to just three points.

Taking themselves off the canvas, the Bulldogs simply dominated the rest of the term, finding life late to ultimately yield a memorable victory under the Marvel Stadium roof.

WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD EDDIE NEW TRICKS?

When Eddie Betts was lurking at the feet of a marking contest early in the first quarter, the murmuring crowd sensed something was going to happen. Of course, they were right. The old magician decided he wouldn’t need his hands after the ball split from a marking contest, instead throwing his boot at it from mid-air to thrill Blues fans with his first major of the day. Betts finished the day with five.

DOGS OFF THE LEASH AT LAST

Despite trailing for most of the first three quarters, the Bulldogs finally hit their straps in the last. Carlton simply couldn’t get their hands on the ball late, as the Dogs dominated the quarter booting six goals to Carlton’s one.

WEITERING'S HUGE PERFORMANCE

Despite the loss, Weitering’s monumental game at full back was one of the best individual performances of the season. Weitering had 21 kicks, 13 marks (a remarkable seven contested) and had mostly nullified the influence of Aaron Naughton until late in the game.

TEAGUE’S SHREWD SHOOTOUT PREDICTION

Carlton coach David Teague predicted this match would be a shootout earlier in the week, and the game lived up to expectation with 29 goals kicked between the two sides. In a momentum swinging affair, Steve Hocking would have watched on in delight as the Dogs won a high-scoring thriller.

BULLDOGS 4.3 6.6 10.8 16.11 (107)

BLUES 3.3 8.6 12.10 13.13 (91)

LEONARD’S BEST

BULLDOGS: Bontempelli, Bruce, Dale, Liberatore, Crozier, Macrae

BLUES: Weitering, McKay, Betts, Docherty, Curnow, Walsh

GOALS

BULLDOGS: Bruce 5, Hunter 2, Naughton 2, Scott 2, Johannisen, Sweet, Treloar, Bontempelli, Lipinski

BLUES: Betts 5, McKay 4, Owies 2, Cunningham, Cripps

INJURIES

BULLDOGS:

BLUES: Jack Silvagni (concussion

UMPIRES

Rosebury, Nicholls, Johanson.

Marvel Stadium 27,663

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

OWEN LEONARD’S VOTES

3 Marcus Bontempelli

2 Jacob Weitering

1 Josh Bruce

Originally published as Dogs hound brave Blues into submission