THE CARLTON Reserves survived a late surge to win at home against Gold Coast.
On a perfect morning for footy, the Blues held off a late surging Suns outfit, prevailing 12.16 (88) to 9.10 (64).
Through the middle, captain Heath Ramshaw continues his red-hot form with 27 disposals, while Elijah Hollands had 23 disposals on return. Mitch McGovern collected 21 disposals and 10 marks in the back half in his first game back from a hamstring injury, while Harry Charleson had 24 disposals.
It was the smalls who got busy in the front half for the Blues, with VFL-listed trio Stirling Phipps-Parsons (three goals), Luke Nelson and Darcy Hogg (two each) combining for seven majors.
It was a slow start to the game, with both teams goalless for the first 10 minutes as the Suns made an inaccurate start. At the 11-minute mark, it was Phipps-Parsons who put the first on the board following a nice transition off half back, which began with a McGovern intercept.
While the Suns were quick to return serve, it was even faster response from the Blues. Debutant Zac Harding crafted a handball assist out of nowhere, keeping the ball alive to Jaxon Binns who finished with a volley in the goal square.
The siren sounded to conclude a low scoring opening quarter, the Blues leading by a goal as Ramshaw picked up where he left off last week with nine first-quarter disposals.
Despite play beginning to flow in the second, it was a similar story in that neither team kicked a major until the 12-minute mark. However, the second term belonged to the Blues once they broke through.
A dashing play started with Darcy Hogg on the wing, before Phipps-Parsons delivered a bullet to Luke Nelson who finished with a set shot from 40 metres to open his account.
Increasing their pressure around the ball, it was a link up through the corridor that resulted in Phipps-Parsons on the end of his second: moments later as the smalls began to look increasingly threatening, an interception in the front half gave Nelson another set shot - he too converted for his second.
On the brink of half time, another wave of relentless pressure in their forward 50 gave Hogg a glimpse at the big sticks. With quick thinking at the top of the goal square, he crafted something out of nothing to give the Reserves a 34-point lead at the main break.
It was an ideal start to the second half for the Blues, with Hogg finding Dane Harvey to kick his first before - in an almost identical play – Orazio Fantasia found himself in plenty of space to waltz in for a goal.
As the Blues began to stamp their dominance on the game, Ollie Badr found Phipps-Parsons for his third, before a deep forward entry from Jordan Boyd found Hollands who slotted the Blues’ fifth of the quarter – stretching the lead to 53 points in the process.
Hogg finished on the run to open up a game-high lead, before the away side closed the gap on the scoreboard – although the damage was largely done.
Charleson had a busy final term in the back half with six disposals for the quarter, but it was a big middle two quarters which set the Blues up for an impressive four-goal victory.
The Carlton Reserves will be back in action on Sunday 17 August at 12:05pm at Mission Whitten Oval against Footscray in their final game of the VFL home-and-away season.
CARLTON RESERVES 2.4 6.10 11.13 12.16 (88)
GOLD COAST VFL 1.4 1.6 3.8 9.10 (64)
GOALS
Carlton: Phipps-Parsons 3, Hogg 2, Nelson 2, Binns, Fantasia, Harvey, Hollands, Ramshaw
BEST
Carlton: McGovern, Phipps-Parsons, Ramshaw, Phillips, Hogg, Hollands
