Carlton almost shot themselves in the foot with inaccuracy, but survived to down Adelaide 11.19 (85) to 12.7 (79) in an AFL thriller at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

After the Blues were disappointed not to clinch a win in their draw with Essendon last round, they almost missed out again, as they controlled the game for most of the night, but allowed Adelaide to hit the front in the final term.

But classy late goals to David Ellard and Jordan Russell and a desperate lunging tackle from Aaron Joseph in the final seconds allowed them to hold on for victory.

Andrew Walker kicked four goals for Carlton, while Taylor Walker booted four for the Crows.

Led by a great first term from captain Chris Judd, the Blues started with a burst and when Andrew Walker kicked his second 19 minutes into the match, they were up 5.1 to 1.2.

But they made it an extremely nervous ride, with their next 11 scores behinds as they added 6.18 for the rest of the night, as well as sending numerous shots out of bounds, to keep Adelaide in with a sniff.

The Crows pegged back the deficit, with their tall forwards Kurt Tippett, Shaun McKernan and Walker booting nine majors between them to keep their side in it.

They closed to within three points late in the first half, before a spectacular high-flying mark and goal to Andrew Walker right on halftime put the gap back to 10 points.

But Carlton continued to waste chances, allowing Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson to put his side in front for the first time in the match when he converted 10 minutes into the last quarter.

After another goal either way, Blues youngster Ellard kicked an excellent running goal from outside 50m to level the scores.

Russell followed up with an even better one, shrugging off an opponent to goal off a few steps from just inside 50m and regain a six-point lead.

A behind each way gave the Crows one more chance to try to force a draw, but as they were surging forward, a desperate Joseph tackle on Crows skipper Nathan Van Berlo ensured Carlton held on.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten said the Blues' field kicking, as well as in front of goal, was poor, but the fact they showed the character to win anyway was heartening.

"We've had a few close ones, we've probably lost those (in the past), so to the players it's a real pat on the back for their character to come back," Ratten said.

"It looked like we just had no run, or (didn't know) where the next goal was going to come from and you find some big moments in games."

He said skipper Chris Judd and fellow midfielder Marc Murphy were outstanding throughout.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig said his side responded well after last weekend's fade-out loss to Port Adelaide, but lacked poise late in the game.

He said his side contained a group of youngsters not yet accustomed to playing consistent "hard-nosed" football, but they would benefit from hanging in as long as they did against class opposition.

"We're a fair way away at the moment, but if we keep doing that we'll accelerate pretty quickly," Craig said.

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