THE BRISBANE Lions have missed an opportunity to boost their finals chances, allowing Carlton to come from 32 points behind at three-quarter time to snatch an unlikely six-point win at the Gabba.
If the Lions had held on, their equation would have been simple – beat the Sydney Swans in round 22 and play finals for the first time since 2004.
Instead they must now travel to Sydney and beat the Swans and rely on other results falling their way.
Carlton’s 18.7 (115) to 16.13 (109) victory owed much to the Blues’ never-say-die attitude and reflected an amazing second half in which both sides firmly held the ascendancy at different times.
The Lions, with Jared Brennan, Simon Black and Jonathan Brown all in fine touch, completely controlled the third term, kicking nine goals to one to take what looked to be a match-winning break in the last quarter.
But the dominance around the stoppages that was so impressive in the third quarter dissipated in the last, as the Blues racked up 115 disposals to 56 and stormed home to win by kicking the game’s last six goals.
The Lions could manage only a single point in the final stanza, while Nick Stevens, Chris Judd and Marc Murphy were red hot in the midfield for the visitors.
A superb last-gasp mark by Joe Anderson thwarted the Lions’ last opportunity to take something from the match - the Carlton youngster throwing himself into the path of the leading Brown.
The Blues had traveled to the Gabba a much improved side to the one which lost by more than 100 points in the corresponding fixture last year.
And Brett Ratten’s side certainly showed as much in the early going, with a seven-goal first term that provided a 22-point quarter-time lead.
Although Brendan Fevola had seven possession in the opening 30 minutes, Carlton’s early goal-kicking burst came from some unlikely sources – Ryan Houlihan booting three term one majors in his first game since round three and Cameron Cloke dominant in the ruck and up forward.
With Lions big man Jamie Charman forced from the ground with a head wound, Cloke did a passable impression of his younger brother and Collingwood star Travis, kicking two goals for the quarter and taking a bona fide screamer.
The Lions hit back early in the second term with consecutive goals to co-captains Brown and Luke Power, but the Blues found answers of their own and the lead was still at 18 points at half time.
The Lions’ brilliant third quarter cancelled that out and then some. However Carlton produced an even more astonishing rally to put the season-high Gabba crowd of 34,327 on tenterhooks.
The Lions were best served by Brennan, Bradd Dalziell, Black and Daniel Bradshaw (six goals), while Stevens, Murphy, Judd and Cloke were massive contributors for the Blues.
Brisbane Lions 3.4 7.9 16.12 16.13 (109)
Carlton 7.2 11.3 12.4 18.7 (115)
GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Bradshaw 6, Brown 4, Corrie 2, Power 2, Hooper, Rischitelli
Carlton: Cloke 4, Fisher 3, Houlihan 3, Fevola 2, Murphy 2, Waite 2, Stevens, Walker
BEST
Brisbane Lions: Brennan, Black, Dalziell, Brown, Bradshaw
Carlton: Stevens, Judd, Cloke, Murphy, Houlihan
INJURIES
Brisbane Lions: Adcock (head), Charman (head)
Carlton: None
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stewart, Meredith, Ryan
Official crowd: 34,327 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
