Young forward Keenan Ramsey has praised Adelaide's composure to overpower Port Adelaide during a tense final quarter in Sunday’s SANFL Showdown V.
After giving up the opening goal of the game, the SANFL Crows burst into the lead with three consecutive majors – all of which 19-year-old Ramsey played a part in. Adelaide built a 10-point lead by the first break and extended its advantage to 26 points midway through the second term after Ramsey slotted his second of the afternoon.
The game’s momentum shifted just before the main break, as the Magpies slowly turned the deficit into a 15-point lead early in the final quarter.
But the Crows refused to surrender. Two final-quarter goals to both Riley Knight and Ramsey helped Adelaide wrestle back the ascendency and bank the Club’s second SANFL win of the season.
“We came in at half-time and spoke about our work around the contest,” Ramsey told afc.com.au after Sunday’s 30-point win at Mannum Oval.
“We knew we had to really work hard, especially in the midfield, and trust our structures to get it done.
“We were pleased with our first half, but we knew they would come back hard and we couldn’t match them for certain periods. For us, it was just about composing ourselves and working our way back into the game.
“I thought we showed that composure, particularly late when the game was there to be won.”
The Crows were warm favourites heading into Sunday’s clash boasting 20 listed players opposed to a somewhat undermanned Magpies side, who fielded just 13 players from its senior list.
But Ramsey said the game is never that simple.
“Externally, people look at the team sheet and see 20 listed blokes and think we should kick them off the park,” he said.
“Reality is, if we don’t bring the effort and the consistency for four quarters, we get shown up. We saw that at stages today.
“Fortunately for us, we turned it around when it mattered and we got the result.”
The former Port Adelaide development player produced arguably his best performance for the Crows in Sunday’s win. Ramsey presented strongly up the ground all afternoon, taking six marks and booting a career-best four goals straight from 16 possessions. He also had three score assists and four inside 50ms.
“It’s a credit to all the hard work the defenders and the mids do up the ground,” Ramsey said.
“You want to be able to kick your goals to give them the reward they deserve. They’re the ones who get it forward and it’s just nice for me to be the one today to get on the end of a few.”
Sunday’s win propelled Adelaide to the top of the SANFL ladder after two rounds for the first time in the Club’s three seasons in the competition.
The SANFL Crows confront 2015 Grand Finalists Woodville-West Torrens in their Round Three clash next Sunday afternoon. The Eagles defeated Adelaide in both meetings between the two sides last season.
“It’s pleasing to start the year off so well,” Ramsey said.
“Last year we probably didn’t start off as good as we’d liked and it was disappointing to miss out on finals after coming home so strongly. It’s a real push this year to win as many games as we can.
“It’ll be a great contest out there against the Eagles next week. They’re a quality outfit and had our measure last year, so fingers crossed all the boys pull up alright and we’ll give them our best shot.”
