Carlton hangs on to beat Richmond by four points as Blues avoid another second-half collapse

Zac Williams has kicked a crucial late goal to help Carlton survive a second-half fightback from Richmond and release a pressure valve with a tense four-point win.

After a horror week, headlined by retired former captain Sam Docherty's leaked criticism, the Blues responded with a 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71) victory at the MCG on Thursday night.

But there were plenty of nervous moments as Carlton — who coughed up a 41-point lead when beaten in the corresponding fixture last year — had a 29-point advantage whittled back to less than one straight kick.

Williams stepped up to end a 55-minute goal drought before Tigers spearhead Tom Lynch was awarded a controversial free-kick and responded with his second major to set up a huge last two minutes.

The Blues hung on in the desperate final stages to post their first win of the season, after being hammered by Sydney in the opening round.

Young gun Jagga Smith (32 disposals) was outstanding in his second senior game, particularly early, with senior midfielders Patrick Cripps (32) and Sam Walsh (30) also important.

Jacob Weitering was outstanding in defence, while Harry McKay and Mitch McGovern kicked two goals each for the Blues.

Lynch finished with a wayward 2.7 for Richmond as he wasted chances to kick his side to victory.

Sam Lalor (16 touches, two goals), Tim Taranto (29 disposals), Jayden Short (29) and captain Toby Nankervis (21) were influential in the Tigers' comeback.

Rhyan Mansell and Steely Green kicked two goals each.

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The victorious Carlton coach is having his say now. And he opens with a smile - "Who would be a coach, eh? Who would want to do this? You'd have to be mad."

Here's what he had to say about that game:

"We were hanging on for most of the second half to be fair. We got criticised for last week for not putting together a third quarter, but what I did ask our boys to do is to fight. When teams surge, your ability to be able to hold.

"We had our backs to the wall, and all we could do was fight out of it. You've got to begin somewhere, so that's where we'll begin.

"Clearly we don't execute for long enough. When you watch us play you're seeing a different style of play, but our ability to do that over a longer period is the question being asked of us right now.

"When we needed to hold, we did. And that's something to celebrate. So we'll celebrate it.

"Tonight was a little bit about our club. We've been targeted through the whole week, inside and out, and we get away with a win and I'm just pleased our supporters can walk away with a smile."

The Richmond coach on the slow start and the comeback:

"The first half we weren't up to standard and our players know that. We gave them too much of a start, which we're really disappointed with. But I'm really proud of the boys' effort to provide a reponse to give us a chance to win the game.

"If you look at the numbers, we feel like we left one out there."

Tom Lynch's night:

"He'll be pretty rapt with having that amount of shots in the first game of the season. The cream on the top we can fix easily, I'd be more worried if he wasn't getting those opportunities.

"To focus on that I think is the wrong way to go about it. He will feel like he's let his teammates down, but we won't see it that way."

The missed chances in the last quarter:

"I was really happy with our organisation, it was just our execution on the day. Last year we probably shouldn't have won the game, and this year we probably should have."

Be interesting to see what Michael Voss makes of it when he speaks shortly. The blog readers have certainly had their say.

Six marks, good! Four tackles, good! Ten shots, very good!

Two goals, okay.

SEVEN BEHINDS. Gamebreaking.

The game was on Tom Lynch's boot in that second half, and he just couldn't get himself calibrated.

Jagga Smith had 32 touches in his second game, the same amount as Patrick Cripps had and two more than Sam Walsh. That midfield trio were Carlton's best throughout but did struggle to hold back the tide in the second half.

I thought Tim Taranto was excellent in the second half for Richmond, as was Jayden Hunt and Sam Lalor had some really telling involvements.

Jacob Weitering was also pivotal down back for Carlton, and his presence really dictated the way Richmond went forward. As a result Tom Lynch had a lot of relatively tricky shots and missed them all.

For 55 minutes in the second half, the Blues failed to kick a goal. They watched as Richmond and Tom Lynch had shot after shot on goal, and breathed sighs of relief every time those shots missed. They grew tired, they let nerves overwhelm them, they made horrible errors and missed chances of their own.

But they won.

And for Michael Voss and this Carlton team, that is all that mattered tonight. The Blues had to win, and winning ugly fits that brief. Perhaps this will prove something to them going forward, that they can find ways to win games that look to be slipping away.

For the Tigers, they did enough to win it but just lacked the finishing touches. Errors from young players came at critical times in that last quarter, and Tom Lynch's inaccuracy was the difference. This will hurt, but there was plenty to like still.

Carlton's night. Just.

The Tigers made their move up the outer wing, and Harry Armstrong's mark at half-forward was a beauty. But the kick was not, and was well gobbled up by Young in the pack.

That should do it for the Blues!

He was three back in that marking contest, but Lewis Young made the block just a little bit too obvious. The umpire out of zone saw it and paid it, and from the top of the goalsquare it's impossible for Lynch to miss.

Back to four points, 1:57 on the clock. It's all to play for!

There's still 4:40 on the clock, but an 11-point margin feels like a handy one right now for Carlton. The Blues finally have their first goal of the second half, and it came from a one-on-one win for Williams over Gibcus.

Finally, a set shot is converted. It could be the match-winner.

They both look like they're out of gas now, and some of the errors here are ridiculous. Mitch McGovern just pulled out of a kick halfway through it and let the ball just fall to the ground.

A bad turnover from Jonty Faull might have just squandered Richmond's best and last real chance.

That was a tougher set shot from the pocket, but it never looked like threatening the goals. It's a four-point game, but now it feels like a Carlton goal would break Richmond given these misses.

Two more set shots for Lynch, two more behinds. If the Blues hang on here tonight they might have Richmond's full forward to thank.

It's a five-point game.

Jayden Short took the mark, took a breath and lined it up from all of 60 metres out. And it never looked like missing.

That goal came from a fantastic contested mark on centre wing, and then a kick back into the corridor which opened it all up. Lynch has had a rough night, but that was a big contribution.

Can't look away from this one at the moment. The Tigers have the chance to throw the cats right among the pigeons tonight.

What are these Blues made of?

The misses could kill the Tigers here. They kicked 2.6 in that term to 0.4. Tom Lynch has kicked 1.4 for the night and had a teammate's shot for goal overturned by giving away a free off the ball. The Tigers could very easily be in front after that term.

But they're not, and the Blues can take some solace from that. Holding on here would feel like something significant given recent history, but they are not trending well right now. The Tigers dominated that quarter. Can Carlton stem the flow and banish some demons?

The skipper's second set shot miss for the night. We're still waiting for the goal we said would be so critical, and both sides have missed looks at it.

A goal in the final minutes here, you could say, would be even bigger.

The rundown tackle from Maurice Rioli! He's the best in the business, and he just mowed Ollie Florent down from a mile away! A massive moment!

Well, it would have been if Tom Lynch had finished his work. He hits the post from a simple set shot and the Blues get away with it. It's all Richmond here, but they can't put it on the scoreboard.

Next goal here is so big. If the Tigers make it three in a row then the nerves will really start setting in among those Blues. A Carlton goal settles everything back down.

Fatigue is setting in and the frenetic pace of the first quarter has been dialled right back.