Adelaide has joined Fremantle atop the AFLW ladder and dealt Melbourne its first loss of the season, holding the Demons goalless for three quarters and withstanding a late rally to win by 14 points on Saturday.

In a heavyweight battle between the top-four teams, Adelaide ambushed the Demons early with a relentless pressure game that set up the 4.11 (35) to 3.3 (21) win at Norwood Oval.

The 2021 Grand Finalists held their opponents to their lowest score of the season and only their own inaccuracy, booting 2.9 across the second and third quarters, stopped the final margin from being significantly more.

Melbourne came to life in the final quarter, kicking two early goals and a third after the final siren, but never looked like catching the Crows after the ferocious opening.

Champion forward Erin Phillips was the star, lifting against a fellow flag contender to boot three goals from snaps in a supremely skillful performance, also finishing with 17 disposals and six tackles.

It was the usual suspects in the midfield, with gun pair Ebony Marinoff (26 disposals) and Anne Hatchard (29) controlling the contested ball and giving the Crows a massive advantage in forward entries (44-21).

Sarah Allen and Marijana Rajcic led an almost impenetrable backline that kept the Dees to their lowest score across the opening three quarters since round seven, 2019.

ADELAIDE             2.1    2.5    4.10    4.11 (35)
MELBOURNE         0.1    0.2     0.2     3.3 (21)  

GOALS
Adelaide: Phillips 3, Martin
Melbourne: D Pearce 2, Harris

BEST
Adelaide: Phillips, Marinoff, S Allan, Rajcic, Hatchard, Jones
Melbourne: McNamara, Hanks, Goldrick, Lampard, D Pearce

INJURIES
Adelaide: Randall (hamstring)
Melbourne: L Pearce (ankle)