By Mick Jeffrey
May 19 2003

Optus Oval on Sunday reminded some of the older supporters of the days of the Whitten Oval. The wind was howling, the players struggled in front of the sticks, and a win was hard fought. Unfortunately for the struggling Western Bulldogs, it was a 7th straight defeat. The improvement of the side from the debacle of the previous week was there for all to see. With a final margin of 7 points in front of a crowd of 20000, it seems that a win was around the corner.

Pressure and the wind contributed to the excessive amount of behinds kicked. Carlton had booted 6 behinds before they managed to nail a major. The Dogs in the latter stages of the game were not much better. It looked as if the team with more accuracy would win the game. Indeed that was one of the turning points of the game.

In the 3rd quarter, the ball was moved quickly inside 50. Nathan Brown gathered the ball, drew the opponent and handballed over the top to Brad Johnson who ran into an open goal. Regrettably for himself and the team, he managed to hook it a little too much from 15 metres out and missed.

The other turning point was later in that quarter. Robert Murphy had done a good job on Carlton spearhead on Brendan Fevola. To that stage, the early pacesetter for the Coleman Medal had been restricted to just 6 behinds through the wind and the relentless pressure from our undermanned defence. (Ben Harrison was forced off earlier with a jarred knee)

When Fevola lined up from 50 metres out, youngster Brian Harris, in just his 4th AFL game, inexplicably and inexcuseably ran through the mark to give him an easy goal from the resultant 50 metre penalty. That silly error proved to be a major factor in the 7 point defeat.

There were some positives from the game, apart from the team improvement. Mitchell Hahn was one of the best on the ground with 20 hard earned possessions and a slice of the top points in the possie award. Brown had a mixed day, but the fact that he had kicked 4.4 was a sign that he was getting back to his best (despite the fact that Mick Martyn was on him). Most of the players were very solid, sharing the ball and working hard. And of course, the injuries were starting to dry up.

SCORES:
CARLTON 15.17.107
BULLDOGS 14.16.100

BULLDOGS GOALS: Brown 4, Johnson 3, Bowden, Dimattina 2, Garlick, Gilbee, McMahon
afl.com.au BEST: Hahn, Croft, Garlick, Robbins, Brown, Bowden, McMahon, Giansiracusa