Voss philosophical about score review drama as Carlton drop thriller to Crows

Bitterly disappointed Carlton coach Michael Voss said he assumes the score review process arrived at the correct decision in a controversial call late the third quarter that denied the Blues a goal as they counted the injury cost after going down to Adelaide by two points in a thriller at Marvel Stadium.

The Crows kicked the final three goals of the game to snatch victory with Voss saying his team failed to get the last five minutes right as they squandered a chance to force the ball out of bounds late which gave the Crows an opening to goal and keep their winning hopes alive.

Carlton let a win slip through their hands snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

He refused to blame the loss of Adam Saad and Mitch McGovern to hamstring injuries on the result, although the tight game turned when McGovern left the ground midway through the final quarter with the Blues in front.

Carlton midfielder Adam Cerra could also be missing as they enter a tough stretch of matches against the Giants, Geelong and Collingwood in the next three rounds after being a late withdrawal when he suffered a hamstring injury at training on Thursday.

The two-point loss was the first time the Blues had lost a game by less than a goal since their one-point defeat by Collingwood in the final round of 2022, which cost them a spot in the finals. They have won six games by less than a goal since that defeat.

“I didn’t think we defended well enough across the night, that was the main thing, which was interesting because last week I thought we defended extremely well,” Voss said.

The Crows kicked 16.4 (100) to edge ahead with Taylor Walker brilliant in kicking four goals and the dynamic Izak Rankine kicking three goals. Sub Sam Berry snapped the winning goal with just one minute, 18 seconds left on the clock.

Voss was philosophical about the score review which happened before the Blues established a strong lead in the last quarter and then blew a couple of chances to score late in the game which would have sealed the result.

“Right now I can only assume they got [the decision] right,” Voss said. “I assume they have got the technology there to get it right. At least, you’d hope they did.”

Voss said on the positive side he thought the team played closer to the style he wanted them to play with scores from stoppages up and the ball locked in their forward 50 due to their pressure for long periods in the final quarter.

“I was a lot more pleased with how we went about tonight. There was more of our game together. The outcome is not the outcome we wanted but in terms of being able to play the style and the brand of footy that we need to be able to play it was closer to what we want, but it just shows that this competition is really hard,” Voss said.

Adelaide’s Matt Crouch will face scrutiny from the match review officer after collecting Carlton’s Jack Carroll high in the last quarter as they contested a ground ball.