by Russell Gould and Jasper Bruce 22nd May 2021 4:56 PM
Carlton defeated Hawthorn to notch its fourth win of the season but AFL fans and pundits were far from thrilled with the calibre of Saturday afternoonâs contest.
Touted as a chance to return to finals footy in the pre-season, the Blues have endured a lukewarm season thus far and were less than impressive in their 23-point victory. Their inefficiency inside 50 (35.7 per cent) kept the struggling Hawks in the game until late in the final term.
Hawthorn, who last week lost to cellar-dwellers North Melbourne, bettered Carlton in the clearance (45-37), contested possession (150-145) and turnover counts (82-72) but were also guilty of some poor skills inside 50.
Carlton has kept its slim finals hopes alive with an error-riddled victory, but it took a halftime blast from coach David Teague to stir the wayward Blues into action.