Fremantle beats Blues with third quarter blitz

CARLTON’S hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon appear doomed after they coughed up a halftime lead in their 29-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium yesterday.

The Blues led by 13 points at the long break but Fremantle piled on seven unanswered goals in the third term to set up the 15.11 (101) to 10.12 (72) win in front of 40,028 fans.

Carlton would have been just one win adrift of Gold Coast if they had gotten over the line against Fremantle.

Carlton suffered a big blow before the match when star ruckman Matthew Kreuzer had to be pulled out because of another heart scare.

Kreuzer hadn’t played since experiencing an elevated heart rate in the round 17 loss to St Kilda and his hopes of returning against Fremantle were dashed when he suffered a recurrence at training on Saturday.

The Blues were well served by Patrick Cripps (32 disposals and eight clearances) and veteran Dale Thomas (30 possessions, one goal).

Dockers midfielder Lachie Neale was best afield with 34 disposals, 10 clearances, and a goal, while Cam McCarthy booted three goals to go with his final-term speccy.

But star goalsneak Michael Walters injured his left hamstring late in the match and might miss the final two rounds of the season.

Carlton dominated the clearance battle 12-5 in the opening term, with Charlie Curnow cashing in up forward to register eight disposals, five marks and a goal.

The Dockers had five players tally just one disposal for the term, including premiership wingman Brad Hill.

The Blues led by 14 points at the first change — just the fourth time this season they’ve won an opening term. The second quarter was an arm wrestle as Fremantle managed to halve the clearance battle.