Adelaide fell to Melbourne by 15 points at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

The Demons' 10.18 (78) to 8.15 (63) victory opened Gather Round and, although it wasn't always pretty, ensured a fourth consecutive triumph.

Adelaide, led by youngster Jake Soligo (27 disposals, seven clearances, eight tackles) in midfield, were improved on previous weeks and, despite a final-quarter fightback, was unable to snatch the win.

While the hosts led the contest 19-8 for inside 50s, 16-9 for clearances and 7-2 for scoring shots to the first change, they hit the target just twice and could only generate a slender five-point advantage to show for their dominance.

The visitors, however, compiled four unanswered goals on either side of the long break, ensuring a 28-point advantage by three-quarter time.

But, as Adelaide showed on this weekend 12 months ago, Gather Round momentum is real.

One otherwise nondescript goal from Jordan Dawson led to another from Josh Rachele just minutes later, and all of a sudden the margin was a couple of kicks and the vocal Adelaide Oval support was back invested in the contest.

But, just as it did early, Melbourne stood firm when the heat was on.

The Demons didn't kick a goal in the final quarter but their earlier industry proving enough, with the Crows simply running out of time.

SCOREBOARD

ADELAIDE         2.5      3.8     6.9         8.15 (63)
MELBOURNE     2.0      6.7     10.13     10.18 (78)

GOALS
Adelaide: Fogarty 2, Rankine, Laird, Walker, Keays, Dawson, Rachele.
Melbourne: Fritsch 3, Pickett 2, van Rooyen 2, Petty, Petracca, Chandler.

BEST
Adelaide: Soligo, Dawson, Laird, Keane, Rankine.
Melbourne: Petracca, May, Fritsch, Gawn, McVee, Viney.

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Berry (replaced Burgess in the third quarter)
Melbourne: Woewodin (replaced Brown in the fourth quarter)