Dayna Finn (left) and Erone Fitzpatrick celebrate a goal during round four, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

CARLTON has won its third game of the season, with Dayna Finn putting on a best-on-ground performance to help the Blues to a 16-point victory at Ikon Park on Saturday afternoon.

Irishwoman Finn was everywhere, finishing with a game-high 30 disposals, 15 contested possessions, and 346m gained.

BLUES v BULLDOGS Full match coverage and stats

However, the win came at a cost, with big improver Yasmin Duursma taken out of the game before half time after injuring her collarbone.

Although the Western Bulldogs dominated territory early, it was Carlton’s Sophie McKay who opened the scoring in the sixth minute. The father-daughter selection was caught high while attempting a mark, before converting from directly in front.

The Western Bulldogs looked more dangerous in attack for most of the first quarter but were unable to make it count. Alice Edmonds took a powerful contested mark in her 50th game but couldn’t convert, while several other forays forward were cut off by Blues defender Harriet Cordner. 

The Blues favoured a more run-and-gun style early when they pushed forward, with Finn showing great speed and clean hands as she gave and received multiple handballs to Lily Goss and Sophie McKay before pushing the final effort wide.

Ellie Blackburn, playing her 75th career game, found space inside 50 early in the second quarter and was rewarded, with Jasmyn Smith hitting the former Bulldog skipper with a short pass. Blackburn drilled the long-range shot to give the visitors their first goal for the day.

Alice Edmonds, the other Bulldog celebrating a milestone today in her 50th game, slotted her first for the day five minutes later after taking another strong mark inside 50. At that point the Bulldogs had taken five marks inside 50 to Carlton’s one – an impressive return given they had averaged three per game prior to their round four clash.

Fears were sent through the Carlton camp midway through the second quarter when Yasmin Duursma was on the receiving end of a fair but crunching bump from Heidi Woodley. The former Port Adelaide player was taken straight down to the rooms with a collarbone injury. 

But the Blues didn’t go into their shells after Duursma’s injury. McKay put through her second for the day in the seventeenth minute after a strong overhead mark, and Maddy Guerin pouncing on a palm down from Breann Harrington three minutes later to give the home side a four-point lead at the main break.

Both teams had their opportunities to score in the third quarter but struggled to find targets. The Western Bulldogs had six inside 50s but could only generate three behinds. The Blues goaled through Goss, who was left unmarked after Keeley Skepper was pushed in the back.

Harrington almost extended Carlton’s lead after collecting a loose ball in the centre square and streaming forward, but some outstanding defensive pressure from Issy Grant prevented the two-time best and fairest from scoring. However, the Blues ruck couldn’t be stopped in the dying stages of the third quarter, goaling after taking a strong contested pack mark. 

Bulldogs skipper De Berry, back for her first game in 2025 after missing the previous three round with a hamstring injury, got the visitors off to the perfect start in the last quarter. Berry, playing behind Cordner, had the ball bounce directly into their hands after it stayed unexpectedly low before turning and snapping on her right.

The home side’s class came through when it mattered, with goals to Irishwoman Erone Fitzpatrick and reigning club best-and-fairest Keeley Sherar in the fourth quarter enough to secure the Blues their third win of the season.

Milestone dogs deliver the goods
Ellie Blackburn has earned just about every accolade a player can earn – including five best and fairests and three All-Australians – but added another one to her name when she slotted her 30th career goal with a long bomb early in the second quarter. Blackburn is now the outright all-time leading goalkicker for the red, white, and blue, breaking the tie with former teammate Bonnie Toogood. Blackburn finished with 14 disposals, five tackles, and 238m gained. 50-gamer Alice Edwards also performed strongly, with 28 hitouts, 10 disposals, and a goal of her own.

Blues better around the ball
The Western Bulldogs had performed slightly better than Carlton over the first three weeks with respect to hitouts (averaging 33.7 versus 31.0) and clearances (26.0 versus 22.7); a trend that continued as the daughters of the west clearly won the hitouts (29-15) and centre clearances (9-5). But Carlton turned this on its head around the ground, with finishing +7 in stoppage clearances and +3 in clearances overall. This result came on the back of Finn, Abbie McKay, Mimi Hill, Goss, and Fitzpatrick all finishing with three or more clearances, compared to just two players for the Bulldogs (Isabelle Pritchard and Jessica Fitzgerald). 

Up next
Carlton will be aiming to continue its climb up the ladder when it welcomes Gold Coast to Ikon Park next Saturday at 2.35pm. The Western Bulldogs are also back in action next Saturday, travelling to Canberra to play winless Greater Western Sydney at the Corroboree Group Oval from 4.35pm.

CARLTON                               1.2          3.3          5.5          7.7 (49)
WESTERN BULLDOGS           0.2          2.5          2.8          4.9 (33)

GOALS
Carlton: S.McKay 2, Guerin, Goss, Harrington, Fitzpatrick, Sherar
Western Bulldogs: Blackburn, Edmonds, Berry, Pritchard

BEST
Carlton: Finn, A.McKay, S.McKay, Fitzpatrick, Goss
Western Bulldogs: Pritchard, Gutknecht, Fitzgerald, Georgostathis

INJURIES
Carlton: Duursma (collarbone), Hill (knee)
Western Bulldogs: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: TBC at IKON Park