The Brisbane Lions have kept their hopes of making the AFL finals alive with a gutsy win over the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba.

The home side went into the final term trailing the third-placed Bulldogs by six, but overran the visitors in a pulsating quarter to take the match 13.12(90) to 10.19(79).

Watched on by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the win puts the Lions back in the hunt for the finals. But they still need wins in their remaining games against Carlton at home and Sydney away to ensure a spot in the eight.

The loss is the second in a row for the Bulldogs, who face a worrying form slump heading into the finals.

The match failed to reach any great heights for three quarters, but came to life in the fourth in front of a crowd of 27,315.

The Bulldogs had held the advantage from the early stages, and controlled the first half to lead by 10 at the break.

The third term was a sloppy affair, with both sides unable to find any fluency in attack with mistakes dominating.

The only highlight came from Jonathan Brown, who took a strong mark in the square from a Bradd Dalziell kick, who again shined for the home team.

With the gap bridged to eight the Lions missed an opportunity to take the lead at the final break, twice hitting the woodwork from set shots.

But it took just three minutes for the Lions to make amends in the final term, kicking two early goals.

The first came from Rhan Hooper, who provided some much needed assistance to Brown and Daniel Bradshaw for the home side up front all night.

His set shot just crossed the line from outside 50, before Jonathan Brown's class shone through moments later to put the Lions up by six.

The Bulldogs hit straight back though, first through Jarrod Harbrow, then Nathan Eagleton took advantage of good work in the midfield to boot his side back in front.

The shootout continued soon after with a magnificent finish from Lions half-forward Michael Rischitelli from 50 levelling the scores, before Bradshaw scored his second to put the home side back in front.

The Lions had all the momentum, and put the game away with a Joel Patfull goal with eight minutes to play.

The Bulldogs tried hard to salvage a result, but the Lions, playing for their season, were able to finish over the top.

Dalziell was again a star performer for the Lions, particularly in the closing stages, while for the Bulldogs Daniel Giansiracusa kicked three goals.

Lions coach Leigh Matthews said his side benefited from poor finishing from the Bulldogs, but paid tribute to the final quarter effort.

"We were good, but I thought the opposition kicked their way out of it a bit," Matthews said.

"I didn't think we were the better team tonight necessarily, but we were around the mark.

"To actually generate a win from a trailing margin then to hold on to it for the last few minutes I think was pretty good for their self-confidence."

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said his side again struggled to put four quarters together.

"For three quarters it was pretty good tonight," Eade said.

"We should have been five (goals) up at halftime, and we should have put them away, and good sides do that. But to Brisbane's credit they willed themselves over the line in the last quarter and probably wanted it a bit more than we did."

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