Australian Football

Match Report

The Adelaide Crows have given new coach Phillip Walsh a wonderful start to his career, smashing 2014 Preliminary Finalists North Melbourne by 77 points at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. The Crows jumped out of the blocks to lead by 27 points at quarter time and continued to dominate in the second term, kicking six goals to one to take a crushing 63-point lead into the long break. The Kangaroos staged a mini-fightback in the third quarter, booting six goals to three, but Adelaide poured on the pressure again in the final term to run out victors by near on 13 goals.

North Melbourne had no answers to the Crows' highly potent forward line, which saw Taylor Walker (six), Eddie Betts (four) and Josh Jenkins (three) snare 13 goals between them. Waker took 15 marks in a best-on-ground performance and he seems to be relishing his new role as captain. Betts has gone from strength to strength since joining the Crows in 2014, and he appears to be on target to match or better his 51-goal haul of last season. Rory Sloane was outstanding on the ball, gathering 26 touches and was a vital cog in a midfield division that is set to get even stronger when Scott Thompson returns from injury in a couple of weeks.

Kangaroo coach Brad Scott would have been bitterly disappointed with such an insipid performance, given the weighty expectations of the Roos this season. North have now lost all six opening-encounters since Scott took the reins at the beginning of 2010. One bright light for the team was the performance of ex-Bulldog Shaun Higgins, whose four goals put him amongst his team's best players. Ben Cunnington (26 disposals and eight marks) and Todd Goldstein (35 hitouts, four tackles) also flew the flag for the Roos.

Adelaide will look to make it two from two for coach Walsh when they take on Collingwood at Docklands next Saturday night, while North will look to redeem itself at the same venue the following day against Brisbane.

GOALS
Adelaide: Walker 6; Betts 4; Jenkins 3; Sloane, Dangerfield 2; Smith, Lynch, Laird, Cameron 
North Melbourne: Higgins 4; Thomas 2; Bastinac, Petrie, Gibson

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Walker, Dangerfield, Sloane, Douglas, Laird, Betts, Chene
North Melbourne: Higgins, Cunnington, Goldstein, Gibson, Thomas

INJURIES
Adelaide: Brown (corked thigh)
North Melbourne: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Jarryd Lyons replaced Luke Brown (corked thigh) during the third quarter
North Melbourne: Kayne Turner replaced Joel Tippett at half-time

UMPIRES: Fisher, Nicholls, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Basil Zempilas, Leigh Matthews, Jude Bolton