THE ROAR on the siren was more a sigh of relief than the growl of victory.

After threatening to collapse in another mortifying defeat at the hands of a young Richmond, the boot of Zac Williams and the intercepting hands of Lewis Young have guided Carlton to an agonising four-point win.

BLUES v TIGERS Full match coverage and stats

Tom Lynch was locked in a morbidly fascinating internal battle between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for the entire match, giving away frees, arguing with umpires, marking well and having a whopping 10 shots at goal.

But he kicked 2.7, the first Tiger to score seven behinds since another tortured spearhead, Matthew Richardson.

Lynch's second, with just two minutes remaining, cut the margin to four points, but the Blues clung on with every remaining fingernail to secure the 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71) victory and douse the growing flames of discontent.

It wasn't exactly champagne football, with errors aplenty from both sides, but it was quick and entertaining, with the Blues having a smidge more class and composure than the Tigers in their period of dominance.

After a week of headlines for all the wrong reasons, Carlton burst out of the blocks, showing off the fast footy that served it well in the first half against Sydney last round, and crucially, hitting the scoreboard this time.

Second-gamer Jagga Smith had an astonishing 16 touches in the first term, with 12 handball receives, bursting through the contest time and time again.

By contrast, Richmond's top accumulator for the quarter were half-backs Jayden Short and Sam Banks, with a mere seven each, and Carlton's talls – Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern and Brodie Kemp – were looking dangerous with the constant, quick supply.

Rain (and a fresh autumn chill signalling footy is truly back) rolled in at quarter-time, and the Tigers started to even up the contest, but second-year keys Jonty Faull and Harry Armstrong missed very gettable shots, blowing an opportunity to even up the scoreboard.

The question coming into the match had simply been: it couldn't happen again, could it?

Leading by 27 at half-time (it was 25 when Richmond mounted its epic comeback in the corresponding match last year), Carlton's run and gun dissipated in the third, with Lachie Fogarty hitting the post from directly in front.

The screws tightened, inch by inch, behind by behind.

The Tiger cubs hassled and locked the ball in their front half, feasting on the chaos as the Blues panicked.

To paraphrase the now-infamous Sam Docherty rant, as soon as teams match Carlton in the middle, the rest of the game just [insert expletive of choice] falls to pieces, and the Tigers won the third quarter contested possessions by 10, and clearances by four.

But the hammer kept skewing off the head of the final nail, with Richmond kicking 2.6 for the term, missing chance after chance.

Short tried to nurse his first shot, and opted to bomb his second in much more customary style, and it was just six points the difference to open the fourth.

But Williams' goal – Carlton's sole for the second half – was enough to do the job.

Jagga and L4lor
It's going to be a fun 15 years, watching these two go head-to-head. Lalor, the first pick in the 2024 draft, and Smith, the third selection. It was Lalor's MCG debut in the No.4 personally handed over by Dustin Martin, and Smith's actual MCG debut. The Blue couldn't have looked calmer if he tried, bouncing onto the field and causing havoc in the first half, before "quietening down" to finish with a game-high 32 touches. Lalor was key in Richmond's comeback, recording 16 high-impact disposals and two goals.

Lynch v Lynch
Tom Lynch spent the night in a battle against both Carlton and himself. For the most part, it was a dirty, frustrating night for the veteran spearhead, and the Blues defenders let him know about it. Lynch's job in this young Tigers line-up is to shield and direct his 19-year-old key forwards, and bring the ball to ground. He kicked 2.7 and gave away five free kicks – the most egregious a push in the face to second-gamer Harry Dean, who sucked in Lynch to a push and shove while Tim Taranto was attempting a set shot. 

CARLTON             6.4     9.9     9.13     10.15 (75)
RICHMOND          3.3     5.6     7.12      9.17 (71)

GOALS
Carlton: McKay 2, McGovern 2, Williams, Pittonet, Lord, Kemp, Hewett, Hayward
Richmond: Mansell 2, Lynch 2, Lalor 2, Green 2, Short

BEST
Carlton: Smith, Weitering, Cripps, Walsh, Florent, McKay
Richmond: Lalor, Short, Ross, Mansell, Taranto, Grlj

INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
Richmond: Nil

Crowd: 74,313 at the MCG