Adelaide Crows 4.2 9.4 11.5 14.9 (93)
Brisbane Lions 2.2 3.5 9.5 14.7 (91)
Goals: Adelaide: S Welsh 4 D Schell 3 B Beinke 2 T Edwards M Bode M Ricciuto B Rutten B Burton.
Brisbane Lions: J Akermanis 3 S Hart 2 J Brown 2 D Headland C Johnson C McRae, Daniel Bradshaw, Darren Bradshaw, B McDonald N Lappin.
Best: Adelaide: M Bode T Edwards A McLeod M Ricciuto M Clarke M Bickley.
Brisbane Lions: J Akermanis N Lappin S Hart L Power M Michael J Brown.
Umpires: M McKenzie, D Goldspink, A Davis.
Official crowd: 17,236 at the Gabba
Injuries: Adelaide: K McGregor (grade one medial ligament strain)
Reports: Adelaide: N Smart, reported in second quarter by R Kelsey for wrestling D Headland. Brisbane: D Headland, reported in second quarter by R Kelsey for wrestling N Smart.
Adelaide withstood a brave Brisbane fightback for a two point win over the reigning AFL premier in the first round of the Wizard Cup tonight at the Gabba.
The Crows had jumped the undermanned Lions to grab a two-goal lead at quarter time and went into the big break with a 35-point lead.
But led by 2001 Brownlow medalist Jason Akermanis, who kicked three goals, and acting captain Nigel Lappin, the Lions kicked 11 goals to five in the last half to almost steal the match.
The Lions were streaming into attack and looked set to score just as the siren sounded leaving the Crows up 14.9 (93) to 14.7 (91).
It was the Lions first defeat since Adelaide beat them in round nine last year by five points at the Gabba.
Adelaide coach Gary Ayers had called on the Crows for a good performance in the pre-season competition to set up their AFL season after slow starts in the previous two years, and his team started well.
The Crows much-maligned forward line was all over the Lions early while Matthew Bode and Tyson Edwards further up the ground gathered plenty of kicks as did Andrew McLeod, after a slow start, and skipper Mark Ricciuto.
Youngster Scott Welsh and Daniel Schell kicked four and three respectively for the game.
But the Crows' win was tempered by injury to centre-halfback Ken McGregor, who was forced off the ground near the end of the first quarter with a knee injury after colliding with Lions rookie forward Darren Bradshaw.
He is expected to be out for up to six weeks with possible medial ligament damage.
Brisbane's Norm Smith medalist Shaun Hart kicked two goals after being released from his tagging role against the dangerous McLeod and Jonathan Brown also booted two.
Both teams went into their first hitout of the year well down on key personnel.
Brisbane has a long list of injuries, including captain Michael Voss, veteran forward Alastair Lynch and backman Justin Leppitsch, while follower Simon Black was a late withdrawal from the match after sustaining a knock at training during the week.
Adelaide has lost Darren Jarman and Matthew Robran to retirements and also had a number of injury concerns with wingmen Kris Massie and James Gallagher and utility Mark Stevens not making the trip up north.
In round two of the Wizard Cup next week the Lions will play Melbourne in Cairns and Adelaide will meet St Kilda at Football Park.
