The home side was down by 37 points five minutes into the last quarter, and with Melbourne having kicked one goal for the match to that point, the contest looked as good as over. But the Demons exploded, kicking three goals in five minutes midway through the quarter to make the Crows more than a little nervous when the margin was narrowed to just 15 points with eight minutes to play. With many in the 14,129-strong crowd on an atrocious evening at the MCG hoping for a close finish, the Crows steadied when it mattered, and despite not kicking a goal for the remainder of the term, ran out deserved winners.
For the Crows, now 3-2, Simon Goodwin had 35 possessions and Bernie Vince added 33, while Nathan Bock had 20 running bounces in his 26-possession, 12-mark effort. Kurt Tippett had 19 possessions, 19 hit-outs and two goals.
Melbourne, who fell to 1-4, was led by Aaron Davey with 27 possessions and ferocious defensive pressure, while Brock McLean and Brent Moloney had a team-high 29 touches.
Despite not kicking a goal in the first half, Melbourne was by far the better side in the latter stages of the third term, but couldn’t make their endeavour count on the scoreboard. Lynden Dunn finally broke the Demons’ duck when he took a mark in the forward pocket and kicked truly after 15 minutes had elapsed in the term, and Michael Newton missed a golden opportunity to make it back-to-back goals for the Demons when his set shot from 15m slammed into the woodwork at the 23-minute mark.
Andrew McLeod kicked Adelaide’s only goal of the third quarter when he latched onto a loose ball on the wing, streamed forward as direct opponent Nathan Jones was being interchanged, and goalled from 50m after three bounces early in the term. Despite the visitors registering just one behind after the seven-minute mark, they still led 5.7 (37) to 1.6 (12) with a quarter to play.
Tippett looked to have pushed Adelaide to an insurmountable advantage when he booted two goals in three minutes early in the fourth quarter, both from set shots. The second goal gave the Crows a match-high 37-point lead, but from nowhere, Melbourne rallied. Dunn converted a set shot from 35m, McLean side-stepped two Crows to nail a beauty on the run at the 11-minute mark, and when captain James McDonald intercepted an errant Tyson Edwards pass inside attacking 50 for the Dees and kicked truly, the home side had kicked three goals in five minutes, and were, incredibly, within 15 points.
Earlier, the Crows took a 4.6 (30) to 0.3 (3) lead into half time.
The second term would have tested the patience of fans and the coaches of the two sides, with the ball rebounding from one half-back line to the other and then being turned over for much of the first 10 minutes. When Melbourne finally had a chance for a goal, a set shot from Newton from 10m, the high-leaping forward inexplicably missed after marking just outside the goalsquare.
Scott Stevens finally broke the ice when he received a free kick after being nudged out of a marking contest by Melbourne’s Jared Rivers despite being well underneath the ball; his resultant set shot from 35m was true, and the Crows extended their lead to 20 points at the 13-minute mark.
Taylor Walker squandered a chance to extend Adelaide’s lead when his set shot at the 23-minute mark sailed wide, but the young forward made amends with two minutes remaining in the quarter when he roved a pack and snapped a goal from 10m. Brad Miller then had the best chance to break Melbourne’s goal-scoring drought with a minute remaining, but his set shot sailed wide.
Adelaide led by 15 points, 2.4 (16) to 0.1 (1), at quarter-time.
The Crows’ half-back line dominated the first term, launching Adelaide’s attack repeatedly while stemming the flow from the Demons when the ball came back the other way. Bock, Goodwin and Andy Otten had 31 possessions between them in the opening stanza, with Bock recording an extraordinary 15 running bounces for the term as he continually swept off half-back to set up Adelaide assaults.
Both sides entered the round five contest as selected.
Adelaide 2.4 4.6 5.7 7.9 (51)
Melbourne 0.1 0.3 1.6 4.10 (34)
GOALS
Adelaide: Tippett 2, Johncock, McLeod, Porplyzia, Stevens, Walker
Melbourne: Dunn 2, McDonald, McLean
BEST
Adelaide: Goodwin, Vince, Thompson, Bock, Rutten, Johncock, Tippett
Melbourne: McLean, Davey, Moloney, Bruce, Dunn
INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Melbourne: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Hendrie, Armstrong, Schmitt
Official crowd: 14,129 at MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
