Australian Football

Match Report

A solid if unspectacular win over Collingwood has seen the Adelaide Crows movie into second place on the ladder and within a game of top spot with only six weeks of the home-and-away season remaining. The Crows flew out of the blocks at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, to lead by 20 points at quarter time, and looked set to record a big win, but the Magpies were very competitive for the rest of the night, getting to within 11 points of the Crows late in the third term before Adelaide pulled away to eventually win by 28.

The Magpies had a couple of early scoring chances but could conjure up only two behinds before the Crows attacked and scored the game's first major after a mark to Eddie Betts in the third minute. Collingwood had another scoring chance after that but Adam Treloar's shots also missed, after which Adelaide took a complete stranglehold on the match in a 10-minute period which saw Ricky Henderson, Sam Jacobs, Jarrad Lyons and Tom Lynch all scored goals to set up a decisive 28-point break. Taylor Adams pulled one back before quarter time but the margin at the first break was 20 points, a gap that ultimately proved to be too great to bridge for Collingwood. 

Collingwood came out full of running in the second quarter and narrowed the gap to just seven points with majors to Darcy Moore and Travis Varcoe before Adelaide it back, Taylor Walker's first goal taking the Crows back out to a 15-point lead midway through the term. After a long goal from Jack Crisp was answered by Eddie Betts, Crisp again came to the fore again and snapped his second major to bring Collingwood to within nine points after 22 minutes. The Crows hit back strongly, though adding 1.3 (the goal going to Josh Jenkins) to nil in the last few minutes of the first half  to lead by 18 at the half. 

As the Magpies had done in the second term, Adelaide came out strongly in the early stages of the third. The Crows peppered the goals with five scoring shots to zero over the first six minutes but failed to capitalise, with Betts, Scott Thompson, Rory Atkins and Lynch all missing shots, although Lynch did manage to kick one straight, to give Adelaide a 28-point lead. When the tide turned, the Magpies looked like making the Crows pay in a big way. From just three scoring shots, they added three goals via James Aish, Travis Cloke and Levi Greenwood to cut the margin too just 11 points as the quarter entered time on. Adelaide recovered after that, though, and majors to Mitch McGovern and Betts saw the Crows back out to a 23-point lead at three-quarter time, ultimately winning the term by five points. 

Collingwood needed the first goal of the final term if it was to mount a challenge, but it was the Crows that drew first blood with a goal to Rory Atkins after nine minutes. The Magpies responded with a major to Greenwood, but the two sides went goal for goal after that and 23 points was as close to Adelaide as Collingwood got, eventually going under by 28 points.

Rory Sloane's 27 disposals and eight tackles put him amongst Adelaide's best, while for Collingwood, Adam Treloar (36 possessions, seven tackles) played a timer match.

Having won eight in a row now, the Crows will face a very tough task to make it nine, a tough match at Kardinia Park against seventh-placed Geelong to come on Saturday night. Collingwood, in 12th place and three games out of the eight, will take on eight-placed North Melbourne on Friday night. The Magpies will be at long odds on to make the finals but for any remaining hope to remain alive, it must win against the Kangaroos.

GOALS
Adelaide: Betts 3; Lyons, Lynch 2; Walker, Jacobs, Jenkins, McGovern, Henderson, Atkins, Cameron
Collingwood: Greenwood, Crisp, Cloke 2; Varcoe, Moore, Adams, Aish

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Smith, Sloane, Talia, Lyons, Crouch, Lever
Collingwood: Grundy, Pendlebury, Treloar, Sinclair, Crisp

BEST - HERALD SUN
Adelaide: Crouch, Sloane, Lever, Henderson, Smith, Jacobs
Collingwood: Treloar, Adams, Pendlebury, Grundy, Crisp, Sinclair

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Collingwood: Nil

UMPIRES: Meredith, Margetts, Fleer

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Ling