The Crows were heading for a comprehensive win early. They were in control and 29 points up at quarter-time, but Carlton somehow kept coming and took the lead for the first time in the match at the 30-minute mark of the final term and hung on for a 14.7 (91) to 12.15 (87) win.
The Blues first use of a two to three goal breeze but it was all Adelaide in the opening term – the Crows gathering 70 possessions to a meagre 31 from Carlton.
Mark Stevens slotted the Crows’ first after marking a Nick Stevens’ kick-in from a point and – along with Wayne Carey - was prominent in attack for Adelaide all day – the pair finishing with six goals between them.
Adelaide had all the play but was wayward in front of goal – missing some simple set shots – but still managed to open up a 4.6 to 1.1 margin at the first break.
The Blues desperately needed to stop the run of Adelaide and they did just that by throwing numbers around the ball. It made for some very scrappy football with the Carlton forward 50 often completely bereft of players, but the tactic worked.
The Blues outscored Adelaide 4.3 to 1.0 to narrow the gap to just eight points at half time with Nick Stevens and Scott Camporeale doing the damage with 10 disposals and one goal each for the quarter.
Brendan Fevola – unseen in the first term – exploded into action to bag two goals for the quarter and eventually finished with a seven-goal haul.
The Crows managed to wrest back the momentum early in the third but was once again wasteful in front of goal – scoring three points before Tyson Edwards sharked a pack brilliantly and snapped a superb goal to extend Adelaide’s lead.
Camporeale found himself in a mile of space in front of goal soon after but failed to make the distance from 20 metres out and Scott Welsh made Carlton pay immediately with a snap from 50 out.
When Stevens goaled for the Crows after the three-quarter time siren, Adelaide’s lead was back out to 25 points and the Blues had the job ahead of them.
Gary Ayres took his huddle over to the outer wing during the break – perhaps to inspire them, but the move appeared to have had no effect as the last quarter got underway.
Fevola slipped into overdrive and booted three consecutive goals to reduce the deficit to eight points with six minutes played while Carey battled hard at the other end with his two goals keeping the Crows’ noses in front.
When Matthew Lappin walked into an open goal with 27 minutes played the margin was back to two points but the main drama was yet to unfold.
Fevola took a disputed mark with 30 minutes gone as he was bundled over the boundary at the 50-metre mark. The umpires conferred and the mark was paid, much to the disgust of the home crowd.
The big full forward started his kick left but it came swinging back to the right to split the middle of the goal and put Carlton in front.
Graham Johncock had the chance to play the hero for Adelaide in the dying seconds after receiving a free kick deep in a forward pocket but his kick missed everything and went out of bounds.
Adelaide coach Gary Ayres said his players let themselves down in front of goal.
"For the first quarter I couldn’t have asked for any better play except for (on) the scoreboard," he said.
"(We had) eleven shots for five goals which is less than 50 percent and I think the league average for conversions is about 60 (percent) – they only had two shots on goal, and what (that does) is instead of… slamming the door shut on your opposition you actually leave it open.
"(Then) for the (last) three quarters we were as bad as they were, so to speak. It wouldn’t have been a great game (to watch) – both sides were butchering the ball a fair bit – (but) in a game of AFL footy you’ve got to be better than that.
"The game should have been in our keeping by quarter time."
While naturally disappointed, Ayres was philosophical about the result.
"Football’s a lot like life and you get a lot of kicks in the arse along the way and we had one big one today."
ADELAIDE: 5.6, 6.6, 10.12, 12.15 (87)
CARLTON: 1.1, 5.4, 7.5, 14.7 (91)
Goals: Adelaide: Stevens 3, Carey 3, Welsh 2, Schuback, McLeod, Burton, Edwards Carlton: Fevola 7, Lappin 3, Camporeale 2, Simpson, Stevens
Best: Adelaide: Ricciuto, McLeod, Doughty, Clarke, Hentschel, Edwards Carlton: Camporeale, Fevola, Stevens, Lappin, Houlihan, Prendergast
Injuries: Adelaide: Bassett (ankle) replaced in selected side by Smart, Hart (hamstring)
Carlton: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rowston, Avon, Nicholls
Crowd: 41,617 at AAMI Stadium
