Australian Football

Match Report

The last match of round 11 promised little more than a comfortable win to the Adelaide Crows against St Kilda and the reality delivered on that promise more or less, with the Crows recording a huge win over the Saints, dominating all four quarters to finish 88 points clear and register the biggest victory of the round. Adelaide remains run eight place after the win but are now well within reach of a place in the top four with just one game separating them from third-placed Geelong. 

While Adelaide attacked strongly in the first eight minutes of the match, it failed to translate its dominance onto the scoreboard, with Eddie Betts, Matt Crouch and Taylor Walker all missing shots before finally kicked truly to give the Crows a nine-point lead. As is so often the case, the first shot at goal at the opposite end of the ground was an accurate one for Jade Gresham and St Kilda was within two points 14 minutes into the first term. That was a close as the Saints were to get though, and the Crows straightened up and added another 5.2 to see out the quarter and take a 33-point lead into the first end-change. 

Josh Jenkins' first goal extended the margin to 39 with a goal a minute into the second term before Tim Membrey gave St Kilda brief hope with his first five minutes later. That hope was quickly extinguished and over the next 10 minutes or so the Crows added 3.4 to nothing (with Jenkins kicking two more) to take the margin out to 55 points and effectively kill the contest. Nick Riewoldt and Josh Bruce added majors for the Saints after that but of fourth to Jenkins ensured Adelaide's lead was beyond 50 points at the long break. 

Any thoughts of a second-half fightback from St Kilda were quickly laid to rest with Jenkins kicking his fifth goal in the first minute of the third term and Taylor Walker his second three minutes later. Paddy McCartin got the Saints' only major of the third quarter at the 11-minute mark but Walker, Jenkins and Betts all added majors before 'orange' time as the Crows took a 65-point lead into the last term. They didn't let up after that, adding another three goals to one in the final quarter to finish just two goals shy of a three-figure win.

Jenkins finished with 13 marks and seven goals for the match to be one of the Crows' best. It could have been a 10-goal game for him, but he registered three misses in the final term. For St Kilda, David Armitage (25 touches, four marks) put in a solid four-quarter effort. 

Adelaide will travel to Perth to take on West Coast at Subiaco on Saturday night in a crucial match for both sides who are equal on seven wins. St Kilda's record has slipped to 4-7 and the Saints will face a tough challenge when they take on the much improved Carlton (10th, 6-5) at Docklands on Sunday. 

GOALS
Adelaide: Jenkins 7; Walker 3; Cameron 2; McGovern, Lyons, Lynch, Jacobs, Betts, Sloane, Seedsman
St Kilda: Bruce 2; Gresham, McCartin, Membrey, Riewoldt

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Jenkins, Crouch, Sloane, Talia, Jacobs, Lever
St Kilda: Armitage, Steven, Savage, Membrey

BEST - HERALD SUN
Adelaide: Crouch, Sloane, Jenkins, Jacobs, Lever, Cameron, Lyons, Talia
St Kilda: Armitage, Montagna, Steven, Geary, Bruce

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
St Kilda: Goddard (Achilles), McCartin (concussion)

UMPIRES: Deboy, Fleer, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATOS: Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Mark Ricciuto, Barry Hall