Adelaide has been knocked out of the SANFL finals race after falling to League leaders Woodville-West Torrens by four points on Sunday afternoon.
The two form sides of the competition over the last month, the Crows and Eagles fought out a bruising, low-scoring contest at Woodville Oval.
The margin between both sides never went beyond 14 points and Adelaide led by as much as 11 points midway through the second quarter with the Crows’ season hanging on the line.
But the top-of-the-table Eagles were able to wrestle back the ascendancy by three-quarter time and hung on to a thrilling 10.7 (67) to 10.3 (63) victory to end the SANFL Crows' finals hopes.
The loss halted a four-game winning streak for Adelaide and was only the team's third loss from its last nine starts. The Crows are now stranded in seventh position on the SANFL ladder, three wins behind fifth-placed South Adelaide with two rounds remaining.
The Eagles’ 14th win of the season secures the club’s first minor premiership since 2006.
Hard-running midfielder Sam Kerridge continued his rich vein of State League form with a match-high 31 possessions, 10 clearances and eight marks. The 22-year-old, who has played just one AFL game this year, has now averaged 25 disposals and seven clearances through his last four SANFL outings.
Kerridge worked tirelessly up and down the ground alongside Matthew Wright (28 possessions, 10 clearances) and Mitch Grigg (27 possessions, two goals) in a brave performance against the big-bodied Eagles midfield.
Kyle Cheney was strong in defence with a season-high 23 disposals at 87 per cent efficiency, along with an equal team-best nine marks and six rebounds.
Fellow backman Luke Carey once again kept three-time Ken Famer Medallist Michael Wundke quiet, holding the key forward to just one goal while collecting 13 disposals and five marks of his own.
Dashing left-footer Harrison Wigg continued to show his improvement with 20 touches and five marks in his return from a minor hamstring complaint.
Anthony Wilson also looked dangerous whenever he was in the vicinity, finishing with 16 touches and a goal.
SANFL Stats: Round 17b v Woodville-West Torrens
After being strangled to the team’s lowest score in five weeks, Crows SANFL coach Heath Younie said Adelaide didn’t show enough dare when it counted.
“They (the Eagles) played a brand that we weren’t able to get through,” he said.
“We switched the ball and wouldn’t go. We just didn’t penetrate through them and they defended us really well. They kept us to 60-odd points - our average has been closer to 100 points over the last month, so full credit to them.
“I felt midway through that second quarter the game was being played on our terms. But from our box, it wasn’t a great spectacle in the way that we want to play.
“We’ll learn a lot from that game for our young guys going forward.”
Although disappointed finals were now officially off the agenda, Younie said it was never a focus for his young side.
“For us, it’s about process and you get what you deserve in the end,” he said.
“We didn’t speak about it all week, we didn’t speak about it pre-game and we didn’t speak about it at three-quarter time.”
Woodville-West Torrens controlled the corridor in the early stages and it paid dividends, as the Eagles slotted the first two goals of the game.
Playing his first match in over three weeks due to illness, Brodie Martin showed great vision to find Matthew Spencely unmarked in the goalsquare for Adelaide's first goal, and then found himself in space inside 50 as the Crows fought back to take a five-point lead into the first change.
An arm wrestle ensued in the second term as both teams traded goals, before the Eagles flexed their muscles in the third to lock the ball in their half of the ground, winning the inside 50 count 10-4 for the quarter. But for all their dominance, they could only build an eight-point margin by the final break.
Adelaide was unable to bridge the gap in a thrilling fourth quarter as Woodville-West Torrens stood firm to see-off a late Crows charge.
Adelaide plays its penultimate SANFL game of the year against Sturt at Peter Motley Oval next Saturday afternoon.
ADELAIDE 3.1 5.3 7.3 10.3 (63)
WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS 2.2 5.5 8.5 10.7 (67)
GOALS
Adelaide: Grigg 2, Podsiadly 2, Spencely, Martin, Wilson, Osborn, O'Brien, Callinan
Woodville-West Torrens: Hayes 3, Wundke, McGregor, Lewis, Schwarz, Petrenko, Whittlesea, Poole
BEST
Adelaide: Kerridge, Grigg, Cheney, Wright, Carey, Wigg, Wilson
Woodville-West Torrens: Rowntree, Jarrad, Allmond, Hayes, Petrenko, Raymond
INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Woodville-West Torrens: Thompson (ankle), McGregor (groin)
