Australian Football

Match Report

The Adelaide Crows have moved to within a breath of a place in the top four with a comprehensive win over Essendon at the Adelaide Oval in Sunday's twilight match. The Crows looked likely to be in the top four when they led by exactly 100 points with five minutes to go but three late goals narrowed the final margin to 82, with the last of those goals enough to take Adelaide's percentage below that of Geelong's and keep the Crows out of the top four. 

Adelaide set the tone for the match very early, with Mitch McGovern kicking the game's first major after just one minute. The Bombers responded with a couple of behinds over the next seven minutes but majors to Eddie Betts, Jarryd Lyons and Rory Sloane had the Crows out to a 23-point lead going into time on. Oarazio Fantasia and Adam Cooney got Essendon within a nine points with a goal each over the next seven minutes, but a second goal to Betts saw Adelaide take a 17-point lead into quarter time. 

The Eddie Betts show continued on early in the second term, with the small forward kicking his third with a brilliant left-foot snap a minute into the term. The Crows followed up with further goals to McGovern and Charlie Cameron, and they were 37 points clear just eight minutes into the quarter. Essendon had a brief period of dominance, with Joe Daniher and Jayden Laverde kicking goals at the 13 and 15-minute marks, but the Crows regained control after that, majors to Paul Seedsman, Cameron and Josh Jenkins saw them out to a 45-point half-time lead. 

Knowing the importance of percentage, Adelaide put the foot to the floor in the third quarter, peppering the goals for the first 25 minutes while restricting the Bombers to just two behinds. Betts and Cameron led the way, kicking two goals each, while Richard Douglas, Kyle Hartigan and McGovern each added one to take the Crows to an 87-point lead before a late goal to Daniher cut the margin ever so slightly back to 82 points at three-quarter time. 

The first half of the last quarter saw Adelaide dominate as Jenkins, Douglas and McGovern to the Crows' lead out to 101 points Daniher's third clawed one back for Essendon. Paul Seedsman's second goal had the margin back out to three figures and looked like assuring the Crows of a top-four place but they took the took the foot off the pedal in the last 10 minutes of the match as the Bombers fought out the game to kick the last three goals via Kyle Langford, Daniher and Laverde to cut the final difference to 82 points. 

It was Rory glory for the victors, with Sloane (33 possessions, five marks) and Laird (36 touches, seven marks) the best pair of Adelaide players, while Zach Merrett (31 disposals and for marks) was one of Essendon's best.

The Crows will get another chance to boost their percentage and stake a top-flour claim when they return to the Adelaide Oval to take on Brisbane next Saturday night. Essendon, meanwhile, will face another tough assignment when it meets Geelong at Docklands the next day.

GOALS
Adelaide: Betts 5; Cameron, McGovern 4; Seedsman, Jenkins, Douglas 2; Lyons, Sloane, Hartigan
Essendon: Daniher 4; Laverde 2; Fantasia, Cooney, Langford

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Laird, Sloane, Betts, Brad Crouch, McGovern, Thompson
Essendon: Merrett, Goddard, Daniher, Cooney, Parish

BEST - THE AGE
Adelaide: Laird, Sloane, Betts, Brad Crouch, McGovern, Thompson
Essendon: Merrett, Goddard, Daniher, Cooney, Parish

INJURIES
Adelaide: Jacobs (ankle)
Essendon: Nil

UMPIRES: Farmer, Edwards, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Mark Ricciuto, David King