THE Brisbane Lions held on for an excellent win against their nemesis, Adelaide, at the Gabba last night, with three goals in the first four minutes of the last quarter enough to wrest the game from the Crows.

Adelaide had appeared to control the contest for much of the match, but was unable to capitalise often enough up forward to hold out the Lions' second-half charge.

In a match where key forwards never had a big say, two individual performances stood out. Luke Power finished with an astonishing 40 possessions for the match, setting up countless scoring opportunities for his side. Then there was Jared Brennan, who showed he had finally arrived as a first-class player with his finest all-round game.

Brennan and Power were everywhere for the Lions in the final quarter, with Brennan in particular taking several telling marks and nailing a raking shot to put his side 10 points up in a low-scoring affair.

Despite a woeful record against the Crows in recent years, the Lions looked the better side early, with Anthony Corrie kicking two goals and setting up Jonathan Brown for another. But Adelaide stayed in the contest going into quarter-time, thanks to a remarkable diving mark by Jason Porplyzia running with the flight of the ball, who completed his good work by threading the ball through from the boundary line.

Brett Burton's first major five minutes into the second quarter gave the Crows the lead for the first time, and although Mitch Clark got the quick reply for the Lions, the remainder of the half — scrappy though it was — was played largely on the visitors' terms.

Journeyman forward Nick Gill snapped a bomb from 50 metres off a step, Richard Douglas nailed another after turning his opponent inside out and Ivan Maric became the Crows' sixth individual goalkicker as Andrew McLeod began to work his way into the game. The running depth of the Crows was also on display. While Scott Thompson, Simon Goodwin and Nathan Van Berlo had been kept quiet to half-time, Michael Doughty had already amassed 21 unobtrusive but mostly effective disposals and Tyson Edwards 18.

Likewise, Simon Black had been prevented from exerting his usual influence for the Lions, but the champion responded with an 11-possession third quarter to drag his side back into the match. Brown kicked his second after the long break after the Adelaide players failed to hear the umpires' play-on call following a disallowed mark, and while inaccuracy dogged the Lions for much of the quarter, the Crows couldn't make Brisbane pay.

Two late goals to the Lions via Robert Copeland and an ever-improving Mitch Clark, who finished with three goals, narrowed the margin to just three points at the final change.

Even then, few could have predicted the explosive fashion in which the Lions broke through in the last quarter. Clark outbodied Nathan Bock then wheeled around for his third; Brennan capitalised on a smother across half-forward and then Copeland had his second after Brown and Corrie bravely took hits to find him unguarded at the top of the goalsquare. It opened up a 17-point break.

Matthews paid tribute to Power and Brennan. "I thought Luke's four-quarter effort was superb, I thought he kept us in it early on, but then all of a sudden Jared joined in and we had two guys that were able to extricate the ball from those congested areas … they really excelled themselves," Matthews said.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig said the Crows paid the price for slow ball movement. "We're slow at the moment in moving the ball … In this game, you only need to hesitate for probably about a second and spaces fill up and options dry up."

BRISBANE LIONS 3.3 4.7 7.14 11.17 (83)
ADELAIDE 2.5 6.7 8.10 10.10 (70)

GOALS — Brisbane Lions: Clark 3, Corrie 2, Brown 2, Copeland 2, Brennan, Notting. Adelaide: Porplyzia 2, Vince, Burton, Gill, Douglas, Maric, Bock, Jericho, Stevens.

BEST — Brisbane Lions: Power, Brennan, Rischitelli, McGrath, Macdonald, Drummond. Adelaide: Doughty, Knights, Edwards, McLeod, Johncock, Bock.

INJURIES — Brisbane Lions: Johnstone (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Henderson; Sherman (back) replaced by Stiller.

UMPIRES: James, Meredith, Ryan.

CROWD: 29,964 at the Gabba.

THE UPSHOT This was arguably the Lions' best and most important win of the season, and provided further evidence of the maturation of their so-called second-tier players.

TALKING POINT For a player who has teased far more than he has delivered in his career, few could have failed to notice Jared Brennan's superb performance. He floated back, lurked dangerously up forward and won eight clearances in the middle to finish with a career-best 31 touches.