Australian Football

Match Report

Melbourne has registered the upset of round seven, holding off a fast-finishing Adelaide Crows at the Adelaide Oval to record a heart-stopping three point win against the home side in front of more than 44,000 (mostly Crows) fans.

After Adelaide kicked the first goal in the first minute of the match via the irrepressible Patrick Dangerfield, the Demons seized control of the match for the remainder of the opening quarter, their newly-hardened defence preventing another Crow goal, while Rohan Bail, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Christian Salem and Jack Watts kicked majors to allow Melbourne to take a 17-point lead into the first break.

An expected strong response from the Crows in the second quarter did not eventuate, and goals to Chris Dawes and Jack Viney saw Melbourne go five goals clear half way through the term. To add injury to insult the Crows lost Tom Lynch to concussion and Matthew Jaensch to a rib injury during the quarter as the match looked like turning into a nightmare for the home side. Adelaide recovered slight to kick the only goal of the second half of the term via Scott Thompson, but the Crows were still 28 points adrift at the long break.

A tight opening to the second half saw Adelaide manage a couple of behinds and the Demons one before the Crows finally began to make a move on the scoreboard. Matthew Crouch kicked a goal at the 11-minute mark and when Josh Jenkins followed suit six minutes later, Melbourne's lead had been pared back to 15 points. The two sides again traded behinds over the next 10 minutes before Jenkins kicked his second to cut the margin to just six points at the 29-minute mark. But Chris Dawes received a free kick and converted for a vital goal seconds before the three-quarter time siren and the Dees took an even two-goal lead into the last term.

That last term saw James Podsiadly goal to bring the Crows within a goal at the three-minute mark and Rory Sloane hit the woodwork with a kick that would have levelled the scores. But Melbourne continued to work hard and skipper Nathan Jones restored a 10-point lead with a 'banana' from the boundary line. But still the Crows kept coming, with Dangerfield kicking an inspirational running goal at the 16-minute mark to cut the lead back to four points.

At that point the Demons appeared to settle. Goals to Mark Jamar and Dom Tyson took them 16 points clear at the 23-minute mark and the game looked to be in Melbourne's keeping. But to its credit, Adelaide mounted one final challenge. Jared Petrenko reduced the deficit to 10 points at the 25-minute mark and when Podsiadly kicked another with under a minute on the clock, the possibility of Adelaide stealing an unlikely win rose.

But Melbourne won a vital late clearance to send the ball forward as the siren sounded and the Demons held on for a momentous three-point win, their first victory over the Crows in Adelaide since 2001.

The Demons will be looking for their first back-to-back victories since 2011 when they take on the Western Bulldogs at the MCG next Saturday night, while the Crows will have a week off to lick their wounds before they try to get their season back on track against Collingwood at home in round nine.

GOALS
Adelaide: Jenkins, Dangerfield, Podsiadly 2, Thompson, Crouch, Petrenko
Melbourne: Dawes 3, Bail, Kennedy-Harris, Salem, Watts, Viney, Jones, Jamar, Tyson

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Jacobs, Smith, Sloane, Thompson, Dangerfield
Melbourne: Dawes, Vince, Tyson, Viney, Kennedy-Harris

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Jacobs, Smith, Laird, Thompson, Sloane
Melbourne: Dawes, Tyson, Viney, Vince, Kennedy-Harris, Howe

COACHES' COMMENTS
Brenton Sanderson (Adel): It was a terrible first half. Our turnovers again [were poor]. Our kick turnovers, we kicked it exactly where Melbourne wanted us to, which was that high half-forward line and that's where they had their players and we sort of played into their hands. We weren't able to change that quick enough. We won the second half with only two players on the bench but damage was done early.

Paul Roos (Syd): We're still a side that's building towards playing 120 minutes and the capacity of the guys to understand what we're trying to do and how hard AFL footy is. To beat the Crows over here is a terrific win for the guys. The Crows were coming late in the last [quarter] so for us to win is a great achievement for the players.

INJURIES
Adelaide: Lynch (concussion), Jaensch
Melbourne: Georgiou (concussion)

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Tom Lynch replaced by Mitch Grigg in the first quarter.
Melbourne: Alex Georgiou replaced by Christian Salem in the third quarter.

UMPIRES: Donlon, Chamberlain, Bannister

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Jason Dunstall, Mark Ricciuto, Cameron Mooney