Australian Football

Match Report

Match number four in the opening round took place on the Saturday afternoon over at the Alberton Oval, the Magpies hosting the Crows in the "mini-Showdown". Another case of so close yet so far was the Magpies' story last season, another runner-up finish after going down by a point to Sturt in the Grand Final. The Crows were consigned to eighth spot, a surprise end considering their 2016 season ended in a Preliminary Final. Both AFL clubs would have a swag of new faces and top-ups after their typical end of season evaluation saw more than a few in search of greener pastures. Unfortunately for the Crows, a great deal of their team for this match consisted of top-ups and the Magpies were going to take full advantage. It didn't happen straight away, the Magpies blasting a few shots wide to score 3.6. The Crows only managed three behinds to be down by 21 points at quarter-time. Port still wouldn't truly get going yet, inaccuracy was still a problem as they added 2.4 to 2.1, the Magpies up by three goals at half-time. From here is where the Magpies truly showed who was boss. They put the foot to the throat of the visitors, keeping them to just one goal for the third term whilst scoring 10.1 to romp away to a 73-point lead by three quarter-time. The job was done already, but Port weren't done totally. They went on to add a further 4.3 to Adelaide's lowly 1.5 to take a resounding 95-point win, sending a warning to the rest of the league. 

Former North Melbourne and now Power forward Lindsay Thomas kicked six goals in his best afield efforts, the Crows naming Jackson Edwards as their best on a nightmare afternoon.