Adelaide co-captain Taylor Walker emphatically answered his critics, kicking four goals to lead the Crows to an important 22-point victory against St Kilda at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Feeling the heat after losing four of their past five games, the Crows can breathe a massive sigh of relief after getting past the Saints to maintain their grip on a finals berth.
The Crows led by just five points at half-time before blowing the Saints away after the main break to run out comfortable winners – 14.8 (92) to 10.10 (70).
It keeps the Crows (10-8) in eighth spot, a game ahead of the chasing pack with three games remaining.
The Saints (8-10) are now all but out of finals contention after suffering their first loss under interim coach Brett Ratten, who had won his previous two after taking over from Alan Richardson.
Mercurial Crows forward Eddie Betts responded to his shock axing last week with three goals in his return to the senior side.
Midfielder Matt Crouch was instrumental with 35 disposals and two goals, All-Australian defender Rory Laird had a game-high 38 touches and Bryce Gibbs had 29 touches in his first game since round 15.
The Saints were brave for most of the night, receiving strong contributions from Jack Billings, ruckman Rowan Marshall and forward Tim Membrey, who was their only multiple goal-kicker with three goals.
Josh Bruce's goal early in the last quarter brought the deficit back to 11 points and gave them a sniff of their first win at Adelaide Oval in 10 attempts, and their first win against the Crows since 2011.
But it was one of the Crows' youngest who sealed the result.
Exciting forward Darcy Fogarty – in his first game of the season – launched a massive 55m bomb as a sign of his immense potential.
Moving key defender Daniel Talia on to the dangerous Membrey, after he kicked three goals on Kyle Hartigan, had the desired result.
The Crows kept their season alive, but the next fortnight – against reigning premiers West Coast and runners-up Collingwood – will go a long way to determining how far they can go in 2019.
ADELAIDE 4.1 6.4 10.7 14.8 (92)
ST KILDA 3.2 5.5 7.7 10.10 (70)
GOALS
Adelaide: Walker 4, Betts 3, M.Crouch 2, Lynch, Douglas, Fogarty, Smith, Murphy
St Kilda: Membrey 3, Hind, Long, Lonie, Gresham, Ross, Bruce, Parker
BEST
Adelaide: M.Crouch, Walker, Laird, Betts, Talia, Gibbs
St Kilda: Billings, Marshall, Membrey, Wilkie, Ross, Steele
INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
St Kilda: Jack Newnes (illness) and Ben Paton (illness) replaced in the selected side by Matthew Parker and Daniel McKenzie.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Brown, Findlay
Official crowd: 39,984 at Adelaide Oval
