Australian Football

Match Report

In a free-flowing and highly entertaining match at the MCG on Sunday, Melbourne and Adelaide played out a great game with the Crows running out victorious by 22 points. The match was a high-scoring affair, with the Demons kicking 15.8.98, a score that would have won the vast majority of matches this season, but Adelaide had that exact score on the board by three-quarter time, and its three final-term goals were enough to get the win and join a group of six sides in the top eight on 10 wins, just one behind ladder leader Hawthorn.

Richard Douglas got the match away to a fast start with a running goal at the one -minute mark. Jesse Hogan answered for the Demons with his first goal after being a free kick at the five-minute mark but the next two majors went Adelaide's way via Mitch McGovern and Tom Lynch, before Taylor Walker made it three in a row for the Crows to give them an 18-point lead midway through the term. Jeff Garlett's first goal cut the difference to two goals early in time on but a second major to Douglas has the Crows leading  by 17 at the first break. 

Few would have forecast the way the second quarter was to unfold. Melbourne came up full of running and had three goals on the board through Garlett, Jack Watts and Ben Kennedy in the first 10 minutes to take the lead. The Crows did not score at all until the 13-minute mark. Josh Jenkins' first goal restoring the lead to Adelaide, but another burst of three in a row to the Demons - one each to Jayden Hunt, Garlett and Watts and them ahead by eight early in time on. Adelaide hit back with majors to Walker and Eddie Betts but Melbourne closed out the half with goals to Dean Kent and Hogan, giving the Demons eight goals for the term and a nine-point half-time lead.

If the Demons' early second-quarter burst was withering, Adelaide's early third-term one was even more so. Majors to Walker, Rory Atkins, Betts and Charlie Cameron in the space of just six minutes turned the half-time deficit into a 13-point lead. It proved to be the decisive phase of the match. Hogan's third cut the margin back to seven but Douglas responded with his third to take it back out to 13 points. The goals proved a little harder to come by from that point. Each side added three in the last 20 minutes of the term and it was the Crows ahead by nine points at the final change with Jenkins getting the vital last major of the quarter.

Coach Paul Roos implored his charges to run at all costs in the final term and the Demons did so. They had a couple of early goal chances but Kennedy and Billy Stretch both missed. After that, Adelaide's defence held firm and goals to Cameron and Jarryd Lyons saw them open up a decisive 22-point break. James Harmes gave Melbourne brief hope with a goal at the 23-minute mark but the Crows continued to hold firm until Mitch McGovern's second goal at the 25-minute mark sealed the win for them.

Rory Laird continued his fine form for the Crows, laying 13 tackles and having 23 disposals, while skipper Nathan Jones (33 touches, nine tackles) was a standout for Melbourne.

Next up for the Crows, who are right in the mix for a top-four spot with a 10-4 record, is another trip to the MCG on Sunday, with a potentially easier opponent, Carlton (14th, 6-8). For Melbourne, the loss leaves it three games shy of the eight with a "home" match against Fremantle in Darwin to come on Saturday night.

GOALS
Melbourne: Gartlett 4; Hogan, Watts 3; Kennedy, Hunt, Kent, Jones, Harmes
Adelaide: Walker, Douglas, Betts 3; Jenkins, Cameron, McGovern 2; Lynch, Atkins, Lyons

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Watts, Hunt, Jones, Hogan, Garlett, Jetta
Adelaide: Laird, Walker, M.Crouch, B.Crouch, Cameron, Douglas

BEST - THE AGE
Melbourne:  N Jones, Tyson, Hogan, Watts, Harmes, N Jetta, Hunt
Adelaide: Walker, Laird, Sloane, Cameron, Lynch, Crouch, Crouch, Atkins, Lyons

INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Adelaide: Nil

UMPIRES: Chamberlein, Hay, Meredith, Harris

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Anthony Hudson, Gerard Healy, Alastair Lynch, Barry Hall