CARLTON journeyed west to face Fremantle with the odds stacked against them.

With Patrick Cripps out with injury and Charlie Curnow sidelined minutes after the first bounce, it was going to take a rousing performance to steal the win at Optus Stadium.

While it was veterans Kade Simpson, Dale Thomas and Marc Murphy hitting the scoreboard in the dying seconds to eventually seal the four-point win, it was Carlton’s youngsters who rose to the occasion and worked tirelessly in the comeback efforts.

Sunday’s protagonist Murphy praised his young teammates when speaking post-match on 6PR Football on Sunday evening.

“We knew we hadn’t started well and obviously losing Charlie was very disappointing, but to the boys’ credit we fought hard from quarter time,” Murphy said.

“I was fortunate to get one late and get a win which was great.”

Murphy was quick to single out Jack Silvagni for his shutdown role on Fremantle skipper Nat Fyfe, with Silvagni keeping the star midfielder to just 10 disposals in the second half.

“He’s actually really fit, Jack. I think last year was a real turning point for him, he really worked hard in the off-season to get himself fit,” he said.

“He got dropped a few weeks ago and went back with a really good mindset and played some really great footy at Northern Blues level.”

“When he got the task to play on Fyfey, there is no bigger task. To Jack’s credit, he quelled him as best as he good. To keep him to 10 touches in that last half was crucial to us winning.”

While Murphy kicked the match-winning goal, his counterpart nearly proved the hero minutes earlier.

And Dale Thomas was quick to echo Murphy’s sentiments in crediting his younger teammates when speaking to Triple M.

“To the boys’ credit without Patty Cripps - who is a pretty handy player in there - they were able to respond. Full credit to those boys who were able to stand up today,” Thomas said.

Thomas is confident the win in enemy territory is set to build belief in the young side - which had 11 players aged 22 or under - as they head into next week’s clash with Melbourne.

“That’s the biggest thing I try and drive to these younger boys is just start believing in yourselves,” he said.

“It’s tough when you lose week-in, week-out. You don’t really know that culture of winning. I think that’s certainly a learned skill as much as the skills of football itself.”