This time Larry Fitzgerald's late go-ahead touchdown reception held up.

Fitzgerald, a receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning with 4:07 left to put the NFC up by three and John Carney added two insurance field goals in a 30-21 victory over the AFC yesterday in the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium.

Fitzgerald made a leaping grab over AFC defensive back Cortland Finnegan on the left side of the end zone to give the NFC a 24-21 lead.

"Eli threw a nice ball over the corner and I was able to get in a real good position," Fitzgerald said. "The corner was in good position the whole time. I was just fortunate."

In last week's Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., Fitzgerald caught a pass over the middle and sprinted for a 64-yard touchdown to put Arizona up 23-20 with 2:47 remaining. The Pittsburgh Steelers, however, rallied for a 27-23 victory.

"It would have been nice to get that win last week in the Super Bowl, but I just wanted to come out here and enjoy myself and be with some great players," Fitzgerald said. "I had a great time."

The 49,958 in attendance will have to wait until at least 2011 to see their favorite NFL All-Stars again.

Next year, the Pro Bowl will be played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami the week before the Super Bowl. The NFL All-Star game has been played in Honolulu every year since 1980.

The NFL and Hawai'i Tourism Authority are hopeful the game will return in 2011.

On the go-ahead score yesterday, Manning just wanted to throw it high and let the 6-foot-3 Fitzgerald make a play.

"It was a fade route," Manning said. "He's the best in the business in doing that. I just wanted to throw it high and give him a shot to go get it and he did the rest. Great play by him."

The Manning-Fitzgerald connection drew admiration from Peyton Manning, Eli's older brother and starting quarterback for the AFC.

"Everyone in the stadium knew what they were going to do and Eli threw a really good ball. Fitzgerald made a really nice play," said Peyton Manning.

On the AFC's next possession, Jay Cutler was picked off by defensive end Julius Peppers and it led to a 48-yard field goal by Carney with 2:16 left.

The AFC got the ball back, but Cutler threw four consecutive incompletions and Carney iced it with a 26-yard field goal to make it 30-21 with 35 seconds left.

Fitzgerald caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, and was named the Dan McGuire Most Outstanding Player.

Fitzgerald's other touchdown reception was a 46-yarder from Drew Brees on the final play of the first half, helping the NFC close the AFC lead to 14-10.

On the AFC's first possession of the game, it effectively went to the pass behind Peyton Manning.

The 10-play, 96-yard drive used up 4:51 and was capped by Peyton Manning's 19-yard pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez to the left side of the end zone.

Peyton Manning was 8 of 10 for 89 yards on the drive.

The NFC punted and lost a fumble on its first two possessions before breaking through on Carney's 37-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 10:42 left before halftime.

Late in the first half, the AFC drove 59 yards and had three shots from the NFC 1, but wound up turning it over on downs. The drive ended with a Peyton Manning incompletion, a rush for no gain by fullback Le'Ron McClain and another incompletion. NFC defensive back Al Harris broke up the fourth-down pass intended for Brandon Marshall on a slant from the left side.

"Had a good first series, but I would have liked to have scored on that last series," Peyton Manning said. "Any time you get down to the 1-yard line, you'd like to be able to get it in the end zone, but we couldn't quite connect."

The AFC found the end zone on its next possession, and it didn't take long.

Kerry Collins replaced Peyton Manning at quarterback and drove the AFC 52 yards on six plays, capped by his 9-yard touchdown pass to Owen Daniels to make it 14-3 with 49 seconds left.

The NFC wasn't content to let time run out without taking a shot at scoring.

A 45-yard kickoff return by Clifton Smith gave the NFC solid field possession with 19 seconds left.

After an incompletion by Brees and a 9-yard run by Adrian Peterson, the NFC scored on the 46-yard pass deep down the right side from Brees to Fitzgerald.

Both teams punted the ball away and lost interceptions to start the third quarter.

The NFC took its first lead late in the third quarter after defensive end Jared Allen stripped the ball from Collins, recovered and returned it 4 yards to the AFC 10.

"I came around the edge, quarterback was flushed and I hit him from behind and got the ball out," said Allen of the Minnesota Vikings. "That was a huge momentum changer."

On the next play, Peterson scored off right tackle to put the NFC ahead 17-14 with 2:24 left.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the AFC used some trickery on first-and-goal from the 5 to regain the lead.

Cutler took the snap, slid to his right and handed the ball off to McClain, who received the ball between his legs from behind. McClain ran it in off the left side to make it 21-17 with 6:59 remaining. The trick play capped a 13-play, 89-yard drive that consumed 7:04, but the AFC could not hold off the NFC's closing surge.

"You always want to win the game, but you just hope everybody stays healthy and has a good off-season," Peyton Manning said. "Get ready for next year."