CARLTON has kept its finals hopes alive with a 36-point win against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The Lions were brave in the first half, but withered in the face of the Blues' third-quarter onslaught that saw them kick seven goals to one to set up the 17.11 (113) to 10.17 (77) win.

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With Fremantle losing to Adelaide earlier on Saturday and North Melbourne and Essendon to play on Sunday, the result sees Carlton just one win behind the pack fighting for seventh and eighth spots on the ladder with Chris Judd set to return from suspension next week.

But while the Blues were playing to keep their season alive, it was the Lions who showed the greater urgency early in the game.

Simon White got the big job on Jonathan Brown, but the Lions' skipper slipped away in traffic to snap the first goal of the game then Rohan Bewick helped his side to a 16-point lead with Carlton having barely managed a forward foray.

The Blues finally found first gear late in the quarter with Jeff Garlett and Eddie Betts goaling to slash the margin to four points at the first break.

The Lions were left to rue several missed scoring opportunities as Carlton took the lead for the first time midway through the second term with Andrew Carrazzo and Bryce Gibbs getting plenty of the ball and Dennis Armfield dangerous in attack with two goals.

A late goal to Josh Green saw the Lions trail by seven points at half-time, but the visitors couldn't go with the Blues, who made their move after the restart.

Lions coach Michael Voss was left to rue the poor second half.

"Coming in at half-time, there was a lot to like about what we were doing," Voss said.
 
"I thought for most of the first half we were playing pretty well ... we just didn't make the most of our opportunities in the first quarter when we needed to finish.
 
"So we had our momentum and we didn't kick our goals. And then they obviously had their momentum in the third and they made every bit count."

Marc Murphy, who wore a hard tag from Andrew Raines, and Heath Scotland were important through the middle while Betts and Garlett were a constant threat around goal as Carlton kicked the last six goals of the term to blow the margin out to 46 points at three-quarter time.

With the premiership points in the bag, the Blues really needed to push home the advantage in the last quarter and gain a precious percentage boost, but substitute Claye Beams booted two goals as the Lions slipped to their 12th loss of the season.

CARLTON                  2.2    6.6     13.11  17.11 (113)
BRISBANE LIONS     2.6    4.11   5.13    10.17 (77)

GOALS?
Carlton: Betts 3, Garlett 3, Armfield 2, Casboult 2, Kreuzer 2, Walker, Gibbs, Carrazzo, Waite, Bell
?Brisbane Lions: Bewick 2, Brown 2, Green 2, Beams 2, Lester, Zorko??

BEST
Carlton: Carrazzo, Gibbs, Simpson, Murphy, Betts, Garlett, Scotland, Walker, Bell?
Brisbane Lions: Redden, Rockliff, Hanley, Lester, Bewick, Lisle, Green

?INJURIES
Carlton: Betts (calf)?
Brisbane Lions: Matt Maguire (ankle) replaced in the selected side by Elliott Yeo

SUBSTITUTES
Carlton: Rhys O'Keefe replaced Eddie Betts (calf) in the final quarter
?Brisbane Lions: Claye Beams replaced Todd Banfield at three-quarter time

?Reports: Nil?

Umpires: Dalgleish, Ryan, Findlay?

Official crowd: 25,977 at Etihad Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.