IF WINNING form is good form, as the old horse-racing adage goes, then it was a commodity in short supply for the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions going into last night's match at the Gabba. The Bulldogs had won one of their past four games, the Lions just one from seven.

It's more curious why a team with a top-three berth long since sewn up, as the Bulldogs have, would be playing as if it is unsure whether it really belongs in September. The Lions needed three straight wins to have a realistic hope of making it. After overrunning the Bulldogs last night, they have two to go — matches against Carlton, at home, and Sydney, at the SCG.

The Bulldogs led for most of the night, and mostly seemed to have the home side's measure. But they failed to take their chances, and when the Lions caught the whiff of uncertainty in their opponents, five goals to two in the last quarter was enough to take the match.

Jonathan Brown and Rhan Hooper kicked three goals each for the Lions, while fifth-gamer Bradd Dalziell continued his impressive form to lead his team with 27 disposals. Daniel Giansiracusa kicked three for the visitors, but the Bulldogs paid terribly for an inaccurate 10.19.

Early, the match had loomed as a blowout, with early goals to Giansiracusa and Brad Johnson. But Hooper, who has mostly disappointed this year, rediscovered the goals and his mojo with them to bring the home side back on terms with two clever majors.

Lindsay Gilbee answered with a running bomb from 65 metres, but Brown kept the Lions close at quarter-time with his first goal from a neat Jed Adcock pass. And so a familiar theme appeared — Hooper's efforts notwithstanding, it was Brown and to a lesser extent Daniel Bradshaw charged with keeping the Lions in the contest on the scoreboard.

Both delivered with second-quarter goals, and Robert Copeland scrounged another. It was enough to keep the margin to 10 points at half-time, and while the Bulldogs looked the better side, one wondered if their uncertain recent form was telling on their minds.

That question loomed large early in the third quarter, when Johnson scooped the ball out of bounds in his defensive 50, was pinged, and Dalziell split the middle from outside the boundary for his first goal in senior football.

Johnson responded as a champion does, with a strong mark and goal to keep the home side at bay, but Dalziell soon cut the Dogs open again, with a long run down the wing and a calm kick into Brown's path, for the big man's third goal. In the meantime, the Dogs sprayed their own chances, with behinds to Ryan Griffen and Matthew Boyd.

No one appeared tighter than Jason Akermanis, who had a luckless night. He won enough of the football running with Michael Rischitelli, but the deadly skills he once used to such effect on this ground were sadly absent. When a kick to an unmarked opponent sailed out on the full, the home crowd hooted its approval.

But the Lions also fluffed their chances to take the game from the Bulldogs sooner. They lacked a bit of luck — Joel Patfull and Simon Black hit the post from long shots — but it looked more likely that what they really lacked was enough class to make the Bulldogs pay for their sloppiness.

As a result, the Bulldogs led by a kick going into the last quarter — or rather, six behinds, with each side having kicked eight goals. But early goals to Hooper and Luke Power gave the Lions the lead, and from there the Bulldogs never threatened.

BRISBANE LIONS 3.3 6.4 8.8 13.12 (90)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.4 7.8 8.14 10.19 (79)

GOALS Brisbane Lions: Hooper 3, Brown 3, Bradshaw 2, Copeland, Dalziell, Power, Rischitelli, Patfull. Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa 3, Johnson 2, Griffen, Gilbee, Murphy, Harbrow, Eagleton.

BEST Brisbane Lions: Dalziell, Patfull, Power, Black, Brown, Brennan. Western Bulldogs: Eagleton, Cooney, Cross, Boyd, Giansiracusa, Johnson.

UMPIRES McBurney, Farmer, Chamberlain.

CROWD 27,315 at Gabba.

THE UPSHOT The Lions remain in the finals hunt by the skin of their claws, still needing victory over Carlton and Sydney to shore up a place. The Bulldogs are safe, but they'll need to rediscover some of that early-season form if they're to give a yelp in September.

TALKING POINT The Bulldogs faded badly last year, missing the finals after not winning any of their last nine games. That won't happen this year, but are they really ready to mix it with Geelong and Hawthorn? Not by a long shot on this evidence.

HOT AND COLD Bradd Dalziell continues to wow with a best-on-ground performance. Too bad that at 21 he's too old to be considered for a Rising Star award. Jason Akermanis' 20 disposals might not look bad on paper, but everything the bleached one touched seemed to just miss its target.