Brisbane Lions' bid for consecutive AFL Women's grand final appearances is back on track after upsetting premiership fancies Carlton by 22 points at Princes Park.
The loss was the Blues' first of the season and they will lose top spot on the ladder if Melbourne defeat Fremantle on Sunday.
It was a huge reality check for Carlton who were held goalless until late in the third quarter and appeared to struggle without injured captain Bri Davey (knee).
After winning 6.4 (40) to 2.6 (18), the Lions have now joined a logjam of four teams on two wins in the top half of the ladder which could grow to five if the Dockers beat the Demons.
It was billed as the Tayla Harris grudge match after the star forward defected from the Lions to the Blues in the off-season but Brisbane defender Leah Kaslar did a great job keeping her former teammate goalless.
Despite perfect conditions, the two sides produced a dour first two quarters which yielded a lone goal but the Lions booted five to two in the closing two to run away.
Kaslar, Emily Bates (20 disposals, six tackles), Kate Lutkins (19), Jamie Stanton (18, six marks), Alexandra Anderson (16), Sophie Conway (two goals) and Nat Exon (seven tackles, one goal) were instrumental in Brisbane's victory.
For Carlton, the standouts were Sophie Li (14 disposals, five marks), Maddison Gay (13, one goal), Nicola Stevens (13, seven marks) and Shae Audley (10 disposals, 10 tackles).
Lions coach Craig Starcevich was very happy with his side's ability to overcome Carlton's defensive tactics.
"If you had to build a game from scratch, that's probably how we'd like it actually," he said post-match.
"It probably wasn't a great spectacle in the first half but we don't mind going the arm wrestle early and then trying to find a way to score when it opens up ... pretty happy with the way it panned out."
Despite getting within a kick in the final quarter, Carlton interim coach Nick Rutley thought the Lions "ruled the roost all evening".
"Their ball use was probably a lot better across the whole night," Rutley said of the Lions.
"A key stat was we went 42 per cent by foot and we gave away 4.3 in terms of turnover - that's the ball game there. So credit to Brisbane, I thought they came with a plan and executed it really well, and I didn't think we had control of the game for any part of the evening, to be honest."
The first quarter was played almost exclusively in the Lions' forward half but despite recording 12 of the first 15 inside 50s of the game, they had to settle for a solitary behind as the Blues were held scoreless.
The scrap continued into the second quarter but the Lions were rewarded for their domination of both territory and disposal when they broke the goal drought just before half-time courtesy of Kaitlyn Ashmore who converted a set shot from 30 metres out.
A pair of brilliant Brisbane goals from Jess Wuetschner and Brittany Gibson from sharp angles in the space of four minutes early in the third term saw the visitors skip away to an 18-point lead.
Just as the result appeared a foregone conclusion, Gay finally booted the Blues' first goal in the 13th minute of the third period and the hosts headed into the final change 11 points in arrears.
When Carlton forward Darcy Vescio marked strongly and goaled from point-blank range four minutes into the final quarter, the Blues were within a goal and eyeing an unlikely victory.
However, two goals from Conway and an on-the-run six-pointer from Exon sealed the deal.
