Three last-quarter goals from Brendan Fevola helped Carlton see off a determined Brisbane comeback attempt in an entertaining AFL clash at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The Blues survived a major scare to win 18.11 (119) to 15.10 (100), with Fevola ending the match with five goals.

Carlton had led by as much as 48 points midway through the third quarter, before the Lions fought their way back into the contest.

With Daniel Bradshaw on fire at full-forward, the Lions kicked five goals in a 10-minute burst late in the third term to cut the margin to three goals at the last change.

Carlton looked to have staved off the challenge early in the final quarter, when Marc Murphy opened the term with his third goal of the night and Fevola snapped the next.

But Brisbane responded with the next three goals, including two in three minutes to midfielder Justin Sherman, to close within 12 points 13 minutes into the last quarter.

But the Blues finally sealed the result with back-to-back goals to Fevola, who had a relatively quiet night for the first three terms.

First, Carlton's Kade Simpson intercepted a Simon Black handball at half-forward and sent a long kick to the goalsquare to set up a Fevola mark.

Then just more than a minute later, Fevola produced a piece of magic, gathering the ball at half-forward, turning in an instant and goaling with a brilliant snap for his fifth of the game.

Earlier, the Blues had taken control of the match with an 8.3 to 1.3 second term to set up a 41-point half-time lead.

Carlton captain Chris Judd and young midfield gun Bryce Gibbs led the way, with fine support from Richard Hadley, Marc Murphy and Kade Simpson, as the Blues completely dominated the midfield for the quarter.

They took the ball into their attacking 50 a staggering 19 times to the Lions' seven for the term, with eight Blues scoring goals for the quarter.

But the Brisbane midfielders responded well to push the ledger their way in the third term and help their side back in the match.

Veterans Luke Power and Black, who returned from injury, were both good, while second-gamer Daniel Rich continued the impressive form he showed in last weekend's debut.

The ball-winning of Jed Adcock and Josh Drummond were also major parts of the Lions' second half revival.

Once they won a decent amount of the ball, their forward line was a major threat, with Bradshaw and Jonathan Brown (three goals) dangerous.

Bradshaw kicked five goals in the second half to finish with six for the game, helped by the absence of second half of Carlton fullback Michael Jamison, who went off injured just before halftime.

But the Lions missed two golden chances to get closer, Brown and Black colliding in a marking attempt 20m out from goal near the end of the third quarter and Bradshaw missing a simple set shot at the start of the last.

Adding to the Lions' disappointment, Brown was reported for rough conduct late in the match over a clash with Murphy.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten said the most pleasing aspect of the match was that his side stayed firm under pressure in the final quarter.

"We could have played a little bit better through patches of the game and we need to improve some of that," he said.

"But when you look at it, we haven't beaten Brisbane (before tonight) in a home and away match at (Etihad Stadium), so that was a great effort.

"I suppose we've been into trying to eradicate records that aren't flattering to our club and we're starting to build that to get some positives in that regard."

He said the severity of Jamison's shoulder injury was yet to be assessed, but admitted his absence had thrown the defence out of kilter.

"It hurt us a bit, if you knew he wasn't playing you could put someone in and change some tactics," he said.

Lions coach Michael Voss said his team could not afford to keep giving up early leads, after managing a comeback win over West Coast in the opening round.

"It was just too big a gap, the competition's hard enough, we were lucky enough to be able to get away with it last week," Voss said.

"But when you're playing against good opposition and you're playing away from home it's a bit harder when you're chasing all the time.

"We couldn't peg them back (although) we put them under a little bit of pressure to be able to win the game.

"We were obviously pretty pleased with what we got out of the second half."

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