Shaky Lions hold off fast-finishing Blues
A PUNCH-drunk Brisbane held off a spirited Carlton to notch a 30-point win in yesterday’s battle of the AFL also-rans at the Gabba.
The Lions led by 56 points early in the third quarter after completely dominating the first half, powered by another scintillating performance from Dayne Zorko.
But they went to water as the Blues began to rally, piling on seven unanswered goals to close in on what would have been a club-record comeback. They got to within 11 points but nervy as they looked, Brisbane found a way to stem the bleeding with long-distance goals from Daniel Rich and Eric Hipwood, then finished the job to prevail 17.10 (112) to 11.16 (82).
Although the Lions remain at the bottom of the ladder, the victory draws them level on 16 points with North Melbourne, who they meet in the final round of the season — putting the Lions in a good position to avoid what would be the club’s first wooden spoon in nearly 20 years.
It was Carlton’s fifth loss in a row and although the Blues were glorified training cones for the first two quarters, coach Brendon Bolton would have been pleased with the manner of their fightback.
However, Bolton’s decision to allow the in-form Zorko to run free proved costly. Held to just 11 possessions by Rich- mond tagger Dion Prestia last week, the influential Zorko tallied that many in the first quarter alone.
He finished with 26 disposals, five clearances, five tackles and three goals to continue his career-best campaign. But Zorko may come under scrutiny for two offthe-ball incidents in the third quarter — the first a gutpunch to Lachie Plowman before the siren had even sounded, and then a backhanded hit across Sam Pet- revski-Seton’s chest that gave away a free kick.
Both were examples of how ill-discipline and overconfidence crept into Brisbane’s game when it looked like it had the game in the bag. While Zorko had a day out, Carlton’s Bryce Gibbs touched the ball just once in the first half and was held to eight possessions by Tom Rockliff. Brisbane captain Dayne Beams was also terrific, kicking three goals.