James Podsiadly has kicked five goals to steer Adelaide to its first SANFL victory of the season over Sturt on Sunday afternoon.

The Crows were never headed at Unley Oval and set up the 49-point win with a sublime opening half, where Adelaide piled on 11 goals to five to lead by 40 points at half-time.

Sturt responded with the first two goals of the third stanza and outscored the visitors for the term as the home crowd grew in voice.

But Adelaide steadied early in the last and waltzed towards victory with an eight-goal final quarter to hand last year’s semi finalists their first loss at home in 2015.

Adelaide’s final score of 22.8 (140) was the Club’s biggest SANFL total since entering the competition last season. It was also the SANFL Crows’ first-ever win over the Double Blues.

Podsiadly, who has played primarily in defence for Adelaide’s State League team this year, starred up forward and finished with 21 possessions and a game-high 14 marks (five contested) alongside his five-goal haul.

The trio of Jarryd Lyons, Richard Douglas and Brad Crouch were also instrumental further up the ground.

Lyons produced a best-on-ground performance in his first SANFL game since Round Five. He gathered 31 possessions, a game-high 12 clearances, seven inside 50ms and two goals to be the most influential midfielder on the park.

Returning duo Crouch (33 disposals, nine clearances, four score assists) and Douglas (23 disposals, six clearances, two goals) were brilliant in the clinches, particularly during the Crows’ electric opening half.

SANFL Stats: Round Nine

Adelaide recorded 11 different goalkickers and had winners on every line in arguably the Club’s best SANFL performance since the team’s inception.

Riley Knight (16 disposals) continued to show his rapid improvement. The 20-year-old kicked a career-best three goals and rarely wasted a possession.

Development Crows Matthew Spencely (18 possessions) and Josh Wittwer (15) also produced their best performances of the season. Both men fought well above their weight division and completed the game with a disposal efficiency beyond 80 per cent.

Captain Ian Callinan continued his consistent year with three goals and 22 possessions, while teenager Reilly O’Brien competed hard with 20 hit-outs and three clearances against highly-rated ruckman Angus Kurtze.

Adelaide’s last SANFL victory came almost 11 months ago against Glenelg in Round 16 of last season.

Depth key to success says Crouch

Crows SANFL coach Heath Younie said the win was “reward for effort” for the players.

“I thought the boys really came to play today,” he said.

“We want to win (as coaches), but it’s more for the boys. Behind the scenes they’re working really hard to get better as players and for us to play better as a team.”

Younie said his team executed the game plan to a tee, noting how dangerous Sturt can be if allowed time and space.

“They’re a really good side, especially on this ground,” he said.

“If you get field position and you can win centre clearance it goes a long way to dictating the game. I thought for three quarters we were able to get the ball in our half and actually play it there for a fair portion of the day.”

A heavy knock to defender Sam Shaw sent a momentary scare through the Crows camp in the second term and was the only sour note of the day for the visitors.

Shaw landed heavily and lay limp after a marking contest on the western wing, with the stretcher immediately called. But the left-footer eventually shrugged off trainers to play out the quarter before being benched for the second half.

Shaw was playing just his second game of the year after returning from hamstring surgery.

The Club’s AFL and SANFL teams both have a bye next weekend. Adelaide’s next SANFL game is against the Eagles at Woodville on Saturday, June 20.

 

 

 

ADELAIDE   5.1   11.5   14.5   22.8 (140)
STURT   2.0   5.1   10.4   14.7 (91)

GOALS
Adelaide: Podsiadly 5, Callinan 3, Knight 3, Douglas 2, Lyons 2, Wilson 2, McGovern, Osborn, Ramsey, Spencely, Atkins
Sturt: Evans 3, Hansen 3, Coad 2, Smith 2, Beard 2, Greenslade, Kirkwood

BEST
Adelaide: Lyons, Podsiadly, Douglas, Crouch, Knight, Wittwer, Spencely
Sturt: Kirkwood, Hansen, Coad, Kurtze, Evans, Battersby

INJURIES
Adelaide: Sam Shaw (head knock)
Sturt: Nil