Carlton have lost another match after being in a winning position down the stretch.
The story of Blues' year played out yet again at the MCG on Saturday afternoon after they went down to Collingwood by 19 points.
Making the loss all the more painful was the fact that Carlton found themselves 11 points in front well into the final term.
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Five-straight Magpies goals blew out the margin in the end, leaving the Blues, for all their good work, still with a solitary win in 2019.
Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps, who picked up 35 touches and 13 clearances in a best-on-ground effort, was visibly devastated after the final siren.
PATRICK CRIPPS 🔥🔥🔥#AFLBluesPies pic.twitter.com/CAQ5iwz6DB
— AFL (@AFL) May 11, 2019
Other positives for the Blues included the performances of their young key forwards, with Mitch McGovern (3 goals), Charlie Curnow (2) and Harry McKay (2) all getting among the goals.
Former Giants Lachie Plowman and Caleb Marchbank impressed in defence along with Jacob Weitering, while Levi Casboult looked comfortable in a different role behind the footy.
One of the major talking points out of the game was the lopsided free-kick count, which finished 24-8 in favour the Pies.
An "annoyed and frustrated" Brendon Bolton refused to comment on the umpiring after the match, acknowledging the difficulty of the role.
"I'm not going into any space around umpiring," Bolton said.
"This caper's so hard to play and it's even harder to umpire.
"I'm in total support of umpiring, they'll get it right and wrong at times but I don't think a senior coach commenting on it does any favours for people wanting to get into umpiring in the future."
The Carlton coach also did his best to play down the positives from yet another honourable loss, admitting that he was feeling the emotions of the Blues faithful.
Continuing their mission to secure their second win of the year, the Blues head to Sydney to face the Giants next Sunday.
