The Duke, Earl Spalding, continued his fine season to get the Blues home against the mid-table Doggies at Princes Park. Spalding’s 7 marks, 25 possessions and four shots on goal – for 1.3 – was a big game for a key forward.

The Bulldogs were in this contest all the way, however, and only an even midfield and the ability to deliver key goals when it mattered won the day for the Blues. A score of 3.7 in the last quarter should have been much better, but in the end the final margin of 25 points was a just result. Carlton's midfield engine-room of Brett Ratten and Fraser Brown was dominant with 31 and 29 possessions respectively, while the flair and skill of a young Anthony Koutoufides earned him one Brownlow Medal vote from the umpires. As always, Craig Bradley found plenty of the ball and completed an impressive midfield grouping.

Another key part of our 1995 campaign was our tenacity in the tackle. The Blues pulled in 38 tackles in this match, spread equally throughout the team, to apply maximum pressure to the Bulldogs' runners. Leading the day was again was the Duke, who laid 5 tackles to add to his stats above, and well and truly deserved his nomination as Best on Ground.

Carlton 4.2 (26) 8.6 (54) 12.9 (81) 15.16 (106)
Footscray 3.2 (20) 5.7 (37) 9.13 (67) 11.15 (81)

Venue: Princes Park

Date: Sunday August 6, 1995

Umpires: P.Carey, G.Caulfield & M.Norden

Crowd: 24,206

Goalkickers: A.Koutoufides 2, B.Heaver 2, J.Cook 2, F.Brown 2, B.Ratten 1, D.Rice 1, E.Spalding 1, B.Pearce 1, M.Clape 1, J.Madden 1, G.Williams 1

Best: E.Spalding, B.Ratten, J.Madden, C.Bradley, A.McKay, F.Brown.

Reports: Nil

Injuries: Nil

Brownlow votes:
3 - Earl Spalding (CARL)
2 - Barry Standfield (FOOT)
1 - Anthony Koutoufides (CARL)

Milestones:
100 Games: Michael Sexton

Article with thanks to Blueseum.org