Swans beat Blues by 22 in AFL at wet SCG Sydney posted one of their most impressive wins of the AFL season on Friday night, scraping to a 22-point win over Carlton at a waterlogged SCG. The Swans booted the opening five goals of the game, including two to star recruit Kurt Tippett, and held on for a 8.17 (65) to 5.13 (43) victory in driving rain. The Blues were far more competitive after halftime and eroded the hosts' lead to just 13 points at three-quarter time. Zach Tuohy snapped the first goal of the final term and the Blues had all the momentum, but could not land a killer punch when the game was on the line. Carlton's Andrew Walker, with time and space and only 15m from the goal square, opted to dribble the ball along the ground instead of kicking a standard drop punt. Sydney defender Dane Rampe came from nowhere to rush a behind with a desperate dive, and the margin was eight points. It was a perfect snapshot of the game - reflective of the Swans' never-say-die attitude and Carlton's inability to manufacture goals in the wet. More importantly, it was as close as the visitors would get. Brandon Jack, Dan Hannebery and Luke Parker all snapped behinds before Ben McGlynn kicked truly after earning a holding-the-ball free kick with a crucial tackle on Lachie Henderson. The Blues had 13 more inside-50s in the second half, but Henderson, Bryce Gibbs (26 disposals, eight tackles) and Chris Judd (23 possessions, nine tackles) could not drag them over the line. The Swans, minus nine of their premiership XXII after the last-minute withdrawal of Mitch Morton, did their best work in the first term. Tippett, the tallest man on the ground, snaffled a brilliant contested mark over Michael Jamison to lift his side to a 27-point lead at the first break. In conditions better suited to Carlton's mosquito fleet, Tippett continued to defy his 202cm frame. The former Adelaide ruck-forward provided the highlight of the night in the second term, when the rain was at its most torrential. Tippett collected the Sherrin, ducked around would-be tackler Kane Lucas and reeled around to kick a magical goal. The Blues looked like going goalless in the first half for the first time since 2009 until umpire Robert Findlay adjudged Nick Malceski to have deliberately rushed a behind with two minutes remaining. Josh Bootsma, who hustled Maceski over the goal line, kicked the resultant goal. I haven't seen too many of those paid this year. In the conditions, I was a little bit surprised," Swans coach John Longmire said of the controversial free kick. Longmire raised his side's resolve in the wet. "I thought we adapted well to the conditions ... and I thought our energy levels, particularly early, were strong," he said. We really applied ourselves. Carlton coach Mick Malthouse was disappointed with his side's poor effort in the opening term. "We haven't trained or played in the wet in months, so it was always going to take us a while to adapt," Malthouse said. When you give up the first quarter and you're four-odd goals down on a night like this, it's very hard to drag it back. Xavier Richards, the younger brother of Swans defender Ted, was a last-minute inclusion for Morton (quad), while Craig Bird was best on ground and tallied a game-high 33 disposals.