Making up for lost time after more than a month on the sidelines, forward Daniel Motlop celebrated his AFL return with an impressive six goal haul that should have sealed a comfortable Port Adelaide victory over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

But the gutsy Lions had other ideas.

Trailing by 40 points early in the final term, Brisbane got off the canvas to thump in seven straight goals to bring the 22,1124-strong Gabba faithful to their feet and lock up the scores in the dying minutes.

However, a controversial 50m penalty capped off by a Brett Ebert goal sealed Port's 17.10 (112) to 15.15 (105) victory as the Lions extended their win-less run to seven straight games.

Motlop last played for Port on May 27 when he broke his collarbone against Geelong.

But the 25-year-old showed no signs of rust as he justified coach Mark Williams' surprise move to drop underperforming key forward Damon White (just 10 goals in 2007) by digging into his bag of tricks to condemn Brisbane to yet another loss.

Motlop at times defied belief as he sunk goals - and Brisbane's spirits - from impossible angles to keep Port on track for September action.

He had the Lions scratching their heads in the 18th minute of the second quarter when he looked no chance of troubling the scorers, only to banana kick on the run 50m out on the boundary through the goal posts for his second major.

Late in the third he was again at his brilliant best, thumping through his fifth about 60m out from an impossible angle in the right forward pocket.

But it was Brisbane's late heroics that threatened to steal the show.

Instead, Port (8-5) notched their second straight win since snapping a four game losing run with last round's inspiring 31-point victory over Essendon.

Brisbane (4-1-8) can at least find some heart in their stirring fourth quarter display despite their lowest home attendance of the season still going home gutted by yet another defeat.

After leading by just 19 points at halftime, Port banged in the first three majors of the third as they went on to enjoy a 14.7 (91) to 8.15 (63) buffer at the final break.

Motlop thumped in three goals by halftime along with exciting youngster Justin Westhoff - in just his fourth AFL game - to establish Port's 9.5 (59) to 5.10 (40) halftime lead.

Brisbane held a 3.4 (22) to 2.3 (15) lead at the first break after the Lions' run of three straight majors was snapped by David Rodan's goal on the quarter time hooter.

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