Port Adelaide booked a home first qualifying final berth with Sydney and denied Adelaide a double chance by winning the 14th Showdown at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

Port outscored the Crows against a strong breeze in the last quarter to win 14.10 (94) to 12.6 (78) - its seventh straight victory against its arch hometown rival.

It leaves Adelaide playing the West Coast Eagles in a cut-throat final, and based on its last-quarter effort, the Crows will be under significant pressure.

Port won without Warren Tredrea playing a significant role, and Adelaide lost without Andrew McLeod having a positive influence. Port won because of its persistence and winning the tight contests, and Adelaide lost dues to its inability to get its free-flowing game going.

Adelaide was unchanged, but Port was forced to omit Roger James (groin) and Chad Cornes (ankle), and replaced them with experienced campaigners Che Cockatoo-Collins and Adam Kingsley.

Among the match-ups were Adelaide’s Nigel Smart on Tredrea, Kris Massie, who struggled against Byron Pickett, Wayne Carey against Darryl Wakelin, and Robert Shirley on Shaun Burgoyne.

The field umpires made it obvious they would not tolerate the game getting out of hand by awarding early frees, with the Crows picking up six within the first eight minutes, and two of them resulting in goals, to Scott Welsh and Graham Johncock.

Port had first use of the strong southerly breeze, but took almost 14 minutes to score, a goal from Pickett courtesy of hard work from Cockatoo-Collins. Within 30 seconds Brett Montgomery also goaled, and a minute later Jarrad Schofield goaled too.

Port had taken control, and finished the term with goals to Shaun Burgoyne, and Gavin Wanganeen from a free. The Crows added only one score, when Ronnie Burns hit the post. Many of their forward thrusts went astray, as Port’s defence remained steadfast.

Adelaide started the second term with a goal from another justified free to Johncock, and soon after kicked his third, and Adelaide’s fourth. The lead was finally wrestled when Carey marked and goaled, and Brett Burton followed it with a magnificent goal from 55 metres.

Adelaide’s momentum was temporarily stopped with a goal from Adam Kingsley at the 15-minute mark, and it proved to be Port’s only goal for the term. It missed three set shots, plus Nick Stevens missed an easy chance straight in front on the run from 30 metres.

Adelaide battled well, and with goals from Tyson Edwards, and a gem from deep in the left pocket from Matthew Bode, it led by nine points at half-time.

The Crows were prepared to attack mainly through handballing, but Port relied on kicking, and the disposals were almost even for the half. The big difference was Port had 51 marks to 22, and many of them were uncontested.

Mark Ricciuto was outstanding for Adelaide, while Schofield was terrific for Port. Smart was doing a quality job on Tredrea, while Kane Cornes had restricted Adelaide’s ace, Andrew McLeod, to only seven disposals. The key to the game seemed to hinge on these respective stars breaking the shackles. But neither did in the third term.

Port worked hard to take a 10-point lead into the last change, and it didn’t appear enough with the use of the breeze. Stuart Dew kicked two of the four term goals, and Burgoyne and Stevens kicked the others. Adelaide’s only goal came from Bode, one of its best.

Pickett had 11 disposals in the first term, but his 12th did not come until midway through the third. But he certainly came to the fore in the last term as he set up the first goal to Montgomery, and kicked the next two. It proved to be a winning burst.

Port kicked 4.2 against the wind to Adelaide’s 3.2. The Crows had their chances, but were denied success. A telling statistic was 98 marks to 51, with Port using most to set up quality play.


PORT ADELAIDE: 5.2, 6.6, 10.8, 14.10 (94)
ADELAIDE: 2.1, 8.3, 9.4, 12.6 (78)

GOALS: Port Adelaide: Pickett, Montgomery 3, S. Burgoyne, Dew 2, Wanganeen, Schofield, Kingsley, Stevens.
Adelaide: Johncock 3, Bode, Welsh 2, Carey, Edwards, McLeod, Burton, Goodwin.
BEST: Port Adelaide: Schofield, K. Cornes, Paxman, Carr, P.Burgoyne, Wanganeen.
Adelaide: Ricciuto, Bode, Edwards, Goodwin, Carey, McGregor.
INJURIES: Port Adelaide: Bishop (concussion)
CHANGES: Port Adelaide: James (groin) and C. Cornes (ankle) replaced by Cockatoo-Collins and Kingsley.
UMPIRES: Coates, Rosebury, McLaren
CROWD: 48,131 at AAMI Stadium