Adelaide has extended its winning run to eight matches and moved to second on the ladder with a strong 28-point win over Collingwood at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

The Crows stamped their authority on the contest with the opening five goals but were engaged in an arm-wrestle over the next 90 minutes before running out comfortable winners 14.13 (97) to 10.9 (69)

The Pies kicked five of the next seven goals and temporarily put a halt on the Crows' slick ball movement with manic tackling pressure.

They were in the contest until early in the final term and made the Crows look as rushed as they have in several weeks, at times.

The Crows kicked 5.2 from their first 10 inside-50 entries and were clinical in the way they moved the ball and isolated Collingwood’s defenders.

Eddie Betts opened the scoring with a goal after marking a ball which had taken less than 10 seconds to rebound from the Crows defensive 50 via Tom Lynch and Charlie Cameron.

Tom Lynch and Ricky Henderson also got on the end of fast-break goals, Sam Jacobs punished a Collingwood turnover and Jarryd Lyons kicked a good stoppage goal.

The Crows had five majors on the board before Taylor Adams broke clear and goaded after being well played into space by Jordan De Goey.

Collingwood made a strong move in the second term. Treloar racked up 12 disposals for the term and, along with Adams and Pendlebury, more than held their own around clearance.

The Pies laid 50 tackles to 36 in the opening half and closed to within eight points during the second term.

The Five: Round 17 v Collingwood

Adelaide would gain back the momentum late in the first half with goals to Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins but then wasted its early ascendency during the third term.

The Crows had the first five scoring shots of the quarter but kicked 1.4 to leave the door ajar.

For a time, Collingwood looked good enough to walk through it, as James Aish, Travis Cloke and then Levi Greenwood kicked unanswered goals.

But Mitch McGovern took a brilliant contested mark in the pocket and converted in a moment which again turned the match.

Betts then marked and kicked his third goal after the three-quarter time siren as the Crows kicked clear.


Collingwood’s pressure was elite and their defence stoic for much of the night, with Ben Sinclair, Jonathan Marsh and Ben Reid all doing good jobs.

But Adelaide had a 14-5 centre clearance advantage to three-quarter time, with 300-gamer Scott Thompson, Jarryd Lyons, Rory Atkins and Brad Crouch strong in close.

Adelaide’s forward line was always going to be too talented to shut down all night with that weight of ball coming forward and they narrowly failed to kick 100 points for an eighth-straight match.

Crows coach Don Pyke would also have been happy with the efforts of his back six led by the composed Jake Lever and Daniel Talia. Adelaide travels to Geelong this week with a strong chance to take a major step towards a top-two finish.

"I thought it was a really tough, hard-fought contest overall for the night," Pyke said post-match.

"Collingwood came, as we knew they would, with their pressure, and they forced a number of errors and made it a really strong contest over the night.

"I thought to our guys credit, they really dug in and the weight of numbers fell our way."

Collingwood is fielding its strongest side of the season, with a hard-nosed midfield group led on Saturday by Adam Treloar, Taylor Adams, Jordan De Goey and Scott Pendlebury.

The Pies’ pressure made the Crows look sloppy at times and Nathan Buckley will take plenty from the contest.

With North Melbourne stumbling, the battle for eighth spot has been thrown open Pies have an opportunity to enter the race next Friday night.

"There was a lot to like in it other than giving that head to start away, which was too much to come back from," Buckley said.

"We gave up 3.1 from our forward 50. In the first 15 minutes, there was just a lack of discipline with the way we knew had to defend. We had four shots from outside 50 from guys who were outside their range.

"We've been handling those situations a lot better but for whatever reason, we went away from what we’ve coached and what we’ve done."

MEDICAL ROOM
Adelaide supporters had a few heart-in-mouth moments during the second term but their appeared to be no major issues. Eddie Betts got up from a heavy tackle near the fence clutching his shoulder, while Josh Jenkins stayed down after a head clash in a marking contest. Taylor Walker also appeared a bit sore in the ankle but all of them played out the match.

NEXT UP
Collingwood has the chance to put further heat on struggling North Melbourne, in a Friday night clash which could throw the race for eighth spot wide open.

If the Crows can travel to Geelong and beat the Cats next Saturday night, you’d be brave to bet against them finishing the minor round in the top two.


ADELAIDE               5.2   8.7   11.12   14.13 (97)
COLLINGWOOD     1.6   5.7   8.7   10.9  (69)

GOALS
Adelaide: Betts 3, Lyons 2, Lynch 2, Walker, Jacobs, Jenkins, McGovern, Henderson, Atkins, Cameron
Collingwood: Greenwood 2, Crisp 2, Cloke 2, Varcoe, Moore, Adams, Aish

BEST
Adelaide: Smith, Sloane, Talia, Lyons, Crouch, Lever
Collingwood: Grundy, Pendlebury, Treloar, Sinclair, Crisp

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Collingwood: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Meredith, Margetts, Fleer

Official crowd: 50,012 at Adelaide Oval