Adelaide is through to the Wizard Home Loans Cup grand final against Collingwood after surviving a massive scare against the Kangaroos to win a thrilling clash at AAMI Stadium by four points on Saturday night.

In a tight tussle throughout, the Crows finally broke the shackles by having the better of the final term even though they squandered several scoring chances to open the door for the Roos.

And there could be some close video scrutiny of the end of the match after David King was denied a 50 metre penalty in the centre of the ground when an Adelaide player went across his mark with the Kangaroos trailing by nine points.

The match was down to the final minutes and a 50 metre penalty would have given King a legitimate chance at a nine-point goal. However, the ball did go down to the Roos’ forward line where youngster Daniel Wells scored a goal off the ground.

Adelaide could have secured the win much earlier with the Crows scoring 2.6 in the final term. Mark Stevens was one of the main culprits with three behinds.

Earlier, the Crows opened the match before a crowd of 17,962 clearly conscious of the Kangaroos’ choose-the-right-option game plan.

Adelaide coach Gary Ayres employed a man-on-man defence, even though the Kangaroos were gathering numerous possessions.

But while the Roos were getting plenty of the ball, Adelaide forward Ian Perrie was again proving a danger up forward with the first two goals of the match.

He booted three goals for the term – finishing with six for the match - and each was impressive. His first was goal earned from a solid chest mark while his third skipped the Crows to a 14-point lead later in the term. It proved to be the greatest margin of the game.

The match settled in the second term with the Crows – for the most part – looking likely to get ahead of their younger opponents.

Goals were at a premium with the Roos booting the final two of the half to gain a one-point lead at the main break.

At that point, the match was well and truly up for grabs.

Brent Harvey was proving dangerous, especially up forward. He was the leading possession-winner for the first half with 13 touches and had two of the Roos’ five regulation goals to his name. The elusive goalsneak kicked three for the game and his final one came early in the last term thanks to Adelaide’s defensive errors.

Veteran Glenn Archer injured his left arm late in the second term and was later taken to hospital. He was later confirmed to have broken a bone and may miss up to five weeks.

Perrie was crucial in the third term with another three goals – his last coming after the siren to give the Crows a five-point lead at the final break.

While Adelaide got on top during the final quarter it was not until Chris Ladhams booted a tough goal late in the game that gave the Crows some breathing space – a nine-point lead.

Then King stepped up to the plate and his missed 50m penalty may be the subject of serious discussion as the repercussions of the pre-season rule changes become apparent.


ADELAIDE: 1.3.2, 1.4.3, 1.7.4, 1.9.10 (73)
KANGAROOS: 0.3.2, 0.5.7, 0.7.8, 0.10.9 (69)

NINE POINT GOALS: Adelaide: Smart
Kangaroos: Nil
SIX POINT GOALS: Adelaide: Perrie 6, Stevens, Hart, Ladhams
Kangaroos: Harvey 3, Harding 2, Hale, Grant, D.Motlop, King, Wells
BEST: Adelaide: McLeod, Perrie, Burns, Smart, Goodwin
Kangaroos: Harvey, Simpson, King, Grant.
INJURIES: Kangaroos: Archer (left arm)
REPORT: Motlop (striking)
CROWD: 17,962 at AAMI Stadium.