Sydney continued their dominance over misfiring Carlton with an upset 17-point AFL victory at the SCG on Saturday.

Even without Barry Hall, who was ruled out prior to the opening bounce with a groin strain, the Swans were still able to register their second win of the season, 12.12 (84) to 9.13 (67) in front of 30,834 fans.

A young, emerging Carlton side were heavily favoured to snap a 16-year hoodoo at the ground and end an 11-match losing streak against the Swans dating back to 2000.

But Sydney's toughness and strength in the stoppages carried them to victory to leave both teams 2-2 for the season.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten was left lamenting another poor effort in front of goal.

The Blues bolted out of the blocks and dominated the opening quarter, but failed to reap the rewards on the scoreboard and only took a five-point lead into the first change.

They then managed just seven behinds in the second term to Sydney's 4.2, the second straight week Carlton failed in front of goal following last week's four-point loss to Essendon.

"When you kick seven behinds from your seven shots (in the second term), that probably hurts you a bit," a frustrated Ratten said.

"Going in at 3.12 (at halftime) and one out on the full, we had our chance to hit the scoreboard and obviously didn't again.

"If you kick straight, you actually get in front and then it makes it very hard for Sydney because they have to open their game up to play and then we can hit the scoreboard even more.

"I suppose the frustrating point about this week and last week is that we had numerous opportunities and we squandered them again."

Asked if there would be a focus on goalkicking at training this week, Ratten wryly replied: "We might do it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and by the time we get to next week we'll kick them through the sticks."

It was a different story for the Swans, who took full advantage of Carlton's inaccuracy to bank another valuable four points.

Jude Bolton and Rhyce Shaw were exceptional, Craig Bolton held Carlton spearhead Brendan Fevola to just 1.4 while Jarrad McVeigh helped to counter Chris Judd's influence and finished with three goals.

"They kicked inaccurately and we got one right on the siren that made the gap a lot narrower than what it should've been," coach Paul Roos said of the first term.

"We took our chances early and then I thought we were really solid for three quarters.

"Against a team everyone's expecting to do well this year, and rightly so, it was a good test for us."

The Blues haven't tasted victory at the SCG since 1993, but that meant little to Ratten.

"The posts looked similar, the grass looked similar and the ball's pretty similar and I know the players brought their boots up," he said.

"There's no excuses."

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