CARLTON has held off a persistent Adelaide Crows outfit with a solid 24-point win in their NAB Challenge clash on Friday at Visy Park.

Despite a sluggish start, Carlton capitalised on a mounting Crows injury list during the match to run out 15.10 (100) to 11.10 (76) winners.

The Blues were outplayed in an intense first quarter, but looked the better side for large periods of the remaining three terms. Skipper Chris Judd was a key figure in the turnaround and was busy at the stoppages all day.

"When our intensity went up I thought the game really changed and our physicality went up as well," coach Brett Ratten said.

"I think when you play the Adelaide Football club any time you've got to roll your sleeves up and get really busy."

Carlton's forward line produced 100 points from multiple contributors with small forward Jeff Garlett the pick of the bunch with four goals.

Chris Yarran announced himself as a potential star across half-back with several damaging runs, while mature-aged recruit Nick Duigan also impressed.

Adelaide was hurt by injuries to Kurt Tippett (ankle), Ricky Henderson (concussion), Ian Callinan (bicep) and Brodie Martin (knee).

Despite the high injury toll, Adelaide coach Neil Craig remained upbeat after the match he described as "worthwhile" and "a reality check".

The coach sympathised with both Martin and Callinan who were hurt in instances he put down to pure bad luck.
 
"No matter what game you're playing you can't put people in cotton wool because we've got to get out and practise the things we need to," Craig said.

"It's an unusual day. You've got to be really careful you don't spend too much time [talking about injuries]. If it was a regular occurrence it would be really worth talking about.

"I'm not being dismissive of it [though]."

Carlton       3.2   8.4   11.6   15.10 (100)
Adelaide     5.3   6.5   9.8   11.10 (76)

GOALS
Carlton: Garlett 4, Waite 2, Simpson 2, Gibbs, Robinson, Betts, Collins, Hampson, Thorton, Ellard
Adelaide: Walker 4, McKernan 3, Knights 2, Dangerfield, Jaensch

BEST
Carlton: Yarran, Judd, Garlett, Waite, Betts, Duigan
Adelaide: S Thompson, Walker, Johncock, Doughty, McKernan, Knights

INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
Adelaide: Tippett (ankle), Henderson (concussion), Callinan (bicep), Martin (knee)

REPORTS
Carlton: Jamison for rough conduct on Henderson in the first quarter
Adelaide: Nil

CROWD
3000 (est.) at Visy Park

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the club