AFLW leaders Crows march on

Adelaide emerged triumphant from an arm-wrestle with Carlton on Sunday to join Brisbane on top of the AFLW ladder.

In a tense, tight and low scoring match, Erin Phillips' late long bomb earned the Crows a three-point win.

In front of 9,006 people at Thebarton Oval, Phillips roosted a 55-metre goal in the final term to ensure a comeback 2.5 (17) to 2.2 (14) success, their third victory of the season.

The Adelaide captain was mobbed by her teammates after the match-winning moment.

But it was the Crows defence which should be most pleased, restricting the free-scoring Blues to just one scoring shot in almost three quarters.

"Carlton got their numbers behind the ball a lot better and we didn't adapt. The second half we were able to turn it around," Crows coach Bec Goddard said.

Angela Foley deserves her share of credit, sent to dangerous Blue Darcy Vescio at quarter-time and shutting the forward down.

The Crows, tipped by many to struggle through the competition, are on track to host Brisbane in a battle of the league's unbeaten sides in round five.

The Lions delivered Collingwood's third-straight loss, keeping their noses in front for a 4.3 (27) to 3.5 (23) win.

Former sprinter Kate McCarthy delivered a show-stopping second term goal, picking the ball up in the centre square and taking five bounces on her way to the goal square.

In a season of firsts, a maiden AFLW draw was recorded in Sydney on Saturday.

GWS Giants forward Aimee Schmidt scored the last goal in their 7.1 (43) to 6.7 (43) result with Fremantle that denied both sides a first win.

In a battle of the well-established women's teams, Melbourne proved too good for Western Bulldogs after quarter-time.

The Demons improved to fourth on the ladder with a 6.7 (43) to 4.5 (29) win that had Bulldogs coach Paul Groves praising the victors.

"Credit to them, their older stars played bloody good footy," he said.

"We were able to quell them early and then Daisy (Pearce) goes into the middle and starts tearing us apart."