Blues small forwards play big role in win over Adelaide Carlton Blues defeated the Adelaide Crows by 32 points at the MCG. Adding to the Crows woes was a nasty injury to key forward Taylor Walker. Chris Yarran is congratulated by Brock Mc Lean after a Blues goal Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited CARLTON'S unconventional and exciting forward set-up has managed to get the job done for a second straight week, with the Blues downing Adelaide by 32 points. The Crows' attack was thrown into disarray midway through Saturday's opening term when spearhead Taylor Walker was subbed out with a knee injury after landing awkwardly in a marking contest at the MCG. While Adelaide tried to manufacture a new offensive structure sans Walker, Carlton again had good returns from fleet-footed duo Jeff Garlett (four goals) and Chris Yarran (three), while Brock McLean chipped in with two goals in the 17.13 (115) to 12.11 (83) victory. The flipside was that the Blues received virtually nothing from their key forwards Shaun Hampson and Sam Rowe, who both went goalless and could manage only a combined total of three marks. "Neither of those lads would be happy with their game," said Carlton coach Mick Malthouse. We want a contest, we don't plan on a lot of goals, but none is disappointing and they know that. But five games into his tenure as Blues coach, Malthouse was happy that the workload was spread in the midfield and up forward, where Carlton had 11 individual goalkickers. "I don't see any reason why it can't work," Malthouse said of his bevy of small forwards which also includes Eddie Betts, who returned to the fray on Saturday after recovering from a broken jaw. They all work hard; they're smart players; they're interchangeable players; they can all go through the middle. One can go back, two can go to the wing and that's some of the criteria of our team - to have that flexibility. Yarran and Garlett had previously combined for five majors in last weekend's drought-breaking win over West Coast, which came after the Malthouse era at Carlton had started with three straight losses. Adelaide were 28 points behind at quarter-time and the margin remained much the same for the next two quarters. The Crows made a late run to get within 17 midway through the last term, only for Carlton to steady through Yarran and Garlett. "It did seem the writing was on the wall before we had the injuries, but nothing went our way," said Crows coach Brenton Sanderson. We made fundamental errors - we got beaten inside the contest and outside the contest. Carlton were the better team and we almost pinched it late. Andy Otten and Matthew Jaensch (three goals apiece) did a pretty good job filling in for the absent Walker in the Adelaide forward line. Walker will learn the severity of his knee injury when he has scans on Monday. Carlton utility Bryce Gibbs was subbed off at halftime as a precautionary measure after complaining of tightness in the hamstring. Adelaide have a 2-3 win-loss record heading into a tough clash with Hawthorn at AAMI Stadium next Saturday. The Blues return to the MCG to take on struggling Melbourne in eight days. Goals: Carlton: J Garlett 4 C Yarran 3 B McLean 2 A Carrazzo B Gibbs C Judd D Armfield E Betts H Scotland K Simpson M Murphy. Adelaide: A Otten 3 M Jaensch 3 B Vince J Petrenko R Douglas S Jacobs T Lynch T Walker. Best: Carlton: K Simpson H Scotland B McLean J Garlett A Walker L Henderson C Judd M Murphy. Adelaide: R Douglas S Thompson P Dangerfield B Rutten R Sloane. Injuries: Carlton: B Gibbs (hamstring tightness). Adelaide: L Brown (concussion) T Walker (knee). Crowd: 44,711 at MCG.