Adelaide has delivered a brutal Showdown smashing to put its premiership rivals on notice, hammering a dismal Port Adelaide by 84 points at Adelaide Oval on Sunday night.

What was expected to be a tight contest failed to live up to the billing as the Crows annihilated the Power – 18.22 (130) to 7.4 (46).

Josh Jenkins and Eddie Betts – in his first game back since having his appendix removed a fortnight ago – booted four goals, skipper Taylor Walker kicked three and ruckman Sam Jacobs, who won the Showdown Medal as the best on ground, and Rory Sloane were also influential.

It was a record winning margin in the 43rd edition of the Showdown, bettering the 83-point win the Crows had over the Power in the 2005 Semi-Final.

The Crows are now all but assured of a top-two berth with a six-point lead over Greater Western Sydney and Richmond with three games remaining in the home and away season.

The Five: Round 20

Meanwhile, the fifth-placed Power can still make up ground on Geelong for a top-four finish, but also need to nervously look over their shoulder to simply feature in the finals.

It was the fifth straight Showdown win for the Crows to take a 22-21 lead in the overall meetings between the cross-town rivals.

The Crows dominated all over the ground, finishing with 100 more possessions (winning the contested possession battle 181-135), 20 more clearances and a massive 81-31 advantage in inside 50ms.

"I thought our intent and our pressure was back to a level that we had gotten away from last week," Crows coach Don Pyke said.

"We've been working on our consistency through games and for the four quarters, there wasn't a lot of let off.

"They (the players) maintained the intensity and the pressure stuff for the four quarters, that allows you to get the outcome."

Power coach Ken Hinkley didn't hold back in describing his side's effort.

"That was terrible, it was a really poor performance, we were dominated from the start to the end," Hinkley said.

"It's unacceptable.

"I'm incredibly disappointed and I find it unexecusable to play that poorly in a game of football."

Full match highlights

The Crows carried on from where they left off last week when they came from 51 points down to snatch a draw after the siren against Collingwood at the MCG.

Only wasteful kicking in front of goal – 1.9 in the first quarter and 5.15 at the main break – gave the Power a sniff of getting themselves back in the game.

After leading by 36 points at half-time, the Crows booted seven goals to three in the third term to kill off the contest.

Although he needed to pass a fitness test on Saturday morning to be cleared to play, Betts showed why he's a Showdown specialist.

Having booted 27 goals in his previous seven games for the Crows against the Power, he kicked a sensational check-side goal from tight on the boundary in the pocket bearing his name.


He brought the 45,028-strong crowd to their feet again with another brilliant goal, this time in the right pocket at the Riverbank Stand end of the ground.

Sloane (30 possessions, seven contested) showed he can have an influence on a game despite being tagged, shrugging off the attentions of Power skipper Travis Boak.

Jacobs got the better of Ryder, while defenders Brodie Smith, Rory Laird and Jake Lever generated plenty of rebound play out of the Crows' backline.

The only downside for the Crows was a leg injury to midfielder David Mackay, who left the game in the second quarter. Defender Daniel Talia also finished the game on the bench with his groin iced up.

Robbie Gray played a lone hand for the Power, racking up 33 disposals, including 20 contested.

MEDICAL ROOM
Adelaide: Crows midfielder David Mackay left the game in the second quarter with a corked quad. Mackay was treated in the rooms and warmed up on the sideline, but didn't return to the game. "Mackay had a cork so he will get looked after. Generally, you can come up (the following week) with those, but it was a fairly solid one that happened early," coach Don Pyke said. Key defender Daniel Talia had time off the ground with a groin injury before playing on, while Charlie Cameron copped a knock to his ribs, but finished the game.
Port Adelaide: The only bright spot for the Power on a horror night was they had a clean bill of health.

NEXT UP

The Crows carry their momentum into next Saturday night's clash with Essendon at Etihad Stadium, while the Power will be desperate to bounce back when they host Collingwood at Adelaide Oval next Sunday

 

ADELAIDE              1.9   5.15  12.18   18.22 (130)
PORT ADELAIDE     1.1   1.3     4.4       7.4 (46)

GOALS
Adelaide: Jenkins 4, Betts 4, Walker 3, Jacobs 2, Laird, Greenwood, B.Crouch, Lynch, Sloane
Port Adelaide: Dixon 2, Westhoff, Polec, R.Gray, Ebert, Hombsch

BEST
Adelaide: Jacobs, Walker, Sloane, B.Crouch, Lynch, Laird, Betts, M.Crouch
Port Adelaide: R.Gray, Boak, Dixon

INJURIES
Adelaide: Mackay (corked thigh), Talia (groin)
Port Adelaide: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Stevic, Stevens, Dalgleish

Official crowd: 45,028