Carlton vs Richmond AFL LIVE: Blues kick one second-half goal but hold off Tiger cubs in MCG thriller

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10.21pm

‘It happened quickly’: Williams on his winner

Blues star Zac Williams says he will be fine after playing through a painful ankle knock to kick the winning goal tonight.

“I think it was Maurice who got me over on the boundary line, I keep forgetting how quick he is,” Williams told Fox Footy with a laugh.

Zac Williams celebrates after kicking a goal in the final quarter.

“I had a little impingement. I went down and got it strapped up and finished out the game.

“I think it will be sore when I go down in the changerooms, but it will be alright.”

Williams joked with interviewer and Blues great Eddie Betts when asked about his winning goal.

“It happened pretty quickly when I got switched forward. I was behind big ‘H’ [Harry McKay] and it was all a blur.

“I just went through my routine and tried to remember what you taught me Eddie - I’m just so happy we got to celebrate with the fans and have this win.”

10.14pm

FT: Carlton 10.15 (75) d Richmond 9.17 (71)

The Blues have won despite kicking just one goal in the last term, with Zac Williams’ late goal proving all the difference.

Blues star Jagga Smith starred in his second game and was beaming, despite the close result.

“It feels amazing, [but] it was probably a bit too tight for comfort,” Smith told Fox Footy.

“But I was proud of the way the boys held that momentum and to get the first win – we can go forward from there.”

10.10pm

Carlton win

The Blues have held on to win despite kicking just one goal in the second half. What a fascinating game of footy.

More to come.

10.07pm

Lynch goals

Tom Lynch has won a free kick in front of goal and booted it through.

He’s had a horror kicking night with 2.7, but that one was right in front after Lewis Young was called for blocking Lynch’s run at the ball.

Weitering has now gone to Lynch.

Blues 75, Tigers 71 with 1:46 to play.

10.04pm

Williams stands up for the Blues

Zac Williams has fought back from what looked to be a leg injury and now he’s booted a vital goal for the Blues.

With the ball sent into the forward line, Williams used his body to move away from his defender and take a telling mark.

Maurice Rioli jnr is tackled by Zac Williams.

He then marked in the forward pocket and kicked the goal.

It’s not over, but the Blues now have the advantage.

The crowd for tonight is 74,313.

Blues 75, Tigers 64 with four mins to play.

10.00pm

More misses

This final term is coming to a rapid finish as neither side can kick a goal – hence we are receiving much less time on than usual.

Tom Lynch has missed another shot at goal and Blues forward Campbell Chesser just missed a running shot from the pocket.

Blues 69, Tigers 64 with five mins left to play.

9.54pm

Tom Lynch misses two more shots, Harry Dean off injured

Tom Lynch has missed yet another shot at goal as the Tigers move to within five points of the lead.

Meanwhile, Blues defender Harry Dean has landed awkwardly in a marking contest and left the ground clutching at his ankle.

Richmond’s Tom Lynch takes a mark despite pressure from Calton’s Lewis Young.

He’s been a star in the Blues’ first couple of games this season, and he’s now getting treatment on the bench, so could still return.

The Blues haven’t kicked a goal yet in the second half, and Tom Lynch has 1.7 to his name for the wasteful Tigers.

Blues 68, Tigers 63 with 12 mins to go on the match.

9.48pm

The Tigers are within a goal

Jayden Short has just booted a goal from distance and the Tigers are within six points of tying up the game.

The Blues have fallen into a hole here. How does this keep happening to them, and can they stop it this time around?

Blues 67, Tigers 61 with 15 mins left to play.

9.42pm

Analysis: Can the Tigers find their ruthless streak?

By Michael Gleeson

Last week Sydney blew Carlton away in the third quarter.

A measure of where both Carlton and Richmond are is that the Blues are still fading out in third quarters – it was a problem last year, not just last week – but the Tigers don’t yet have top-side ruthlessness.

Maurice Rioli jnr catches Oliver Florent.

The Tigers could have, and should have, put Carlton to the sword in the third term. Carlton kicked four points for the quarter, and Richmond kicked two goals six and wasted the chance to take a three-quarter time lead.

Veteran premiership full-forward Tom Lynch had the chance to capitalise more than anyone, but missed two set shots he should have kicked. Earlier he also pushed Lewis Young over in the goal square as Tim Taranto was about to take a shot at goal from 50 and had the free kick reversed.

Richmond’s pressure tightened up the game, which was played in Tiger territory. Maurice Rioli jnr had two damaging rundown tackles in the term.

The first, on Ollie Florent, created one of Lynch’s set shots.

The other was more damaging to Carlton – Zac Williams foot was caught up under him, and he went straight off the ground hobbling with an ankle injury.

Lachie Fogarty is in Carlton’s team as a defensive forward. He got the defensive bit right with a great tackle of Jayden Short at the start of the third, but then struggled with the forward bit when he managed to miss the goal from 15 metres out directly in front.

9.38pm