Forward Tom Lynch says Adelaide’s stirring Showdown win on Sunday night was “for the fans”.

The Crows brought effort and intensity from the outset, but Port Adelaide was cleaner with its ball use and held a 10-point lead at half time. Adelaide found its range in the third quarter, kicking three unanswered goals while holding the Power goalless for the first time in a quarter this year.

The Crows ran out the game strongly, outscoring the notoriously fast-finishing Power five-goals-to-three in the final quarter to record a spirited 23-point win and keep their finals hopes alive.

A crowd of 50,522, which surpassed the Round Two Showdown crowd of 50,397, turned out to witness Adelaide upstage the top-of-the-table Power. Lynch said it was a win the Crows faithful, who endured three straight Showdown losses prior to Sunday, should enjoy.

“What a win for the fans,” Lynch said after the game.

“We put a lot of hard work in and we knew we were definitely good enough. It was just about being harder for longer for us today.

“We didn’t get off to a great start and they jumped us, but we stayed in the contest. It felt like we were on top of them in the first half even though we were 10 points down. We came into the rooms at half time with the right attitude, knowing we were right in the game. We were able to take that into the second half and start really well.”

With memories of two heartbreaking Showdown defeats last year front of mind, Crows fans watched and waited nervously for the final siren to sound.

Lynch said Adelaide had learned from the narrow losses in 2013.

“It’s just been a bit of an execution thing for us and getting disorganised late in games in the past,” he said.

“It was fantastic to stand up today. We were really well organised. We stuck to our structures and kept surging the ball forward. We really ran the game out well and that’s a credit to the fitness staff, Nick Poulos and Matty Bode, but it was a credit to the boys as well.

“We kept switched on for the full 120 minutes and got away with the win.”

Balfours Showdown XXXVII was Lynch’s first AFL game since suffering a fractured jaw in a controversial collision with Melbourne midfielder Jack Viney in Round Seven. It was only his fourth match of the season and second full game after starting as the substitute in his first game of the year in Round Five and sustaining an early injury against the Dees a fortnight later.

Despite the lack of match practice Lynch, who has overcome foot, shoulder and jaw injuries this season, played a key role in Adelaide’s upset win. The Club’s 2013 leading goalkicker finished with 21 possessions, six marks and four tackles.

“I was tonguing it (out of puff) towards the end, but it was great to be back out there with the boys. What better way to come back than in than in a Showdown,” Lynch said.

“There were some great performances from the boys and the forward line was a lot of fun to be a part of today. I certainly enjoyed it out there.”

Lynch had a front row seat when Eddie Betts slotted another remarkable goal from the newly-crowned ‘Eddie Betts pocket’ at the northern end of Adelaide Oval.

“I was in the pocket with Pods when Eddie kicked it. We were doing our own little hug while Eddie was hugging the bloke in the yellow jumper again it would seem. It was a good moment,” he said.

Like Lynch, coach Brenton Sanderson was pleased the Crows could reward their fans, who have endured a rollercoaster ride so far this season.

But Sanderson emphasised the Club, which is now back to one game outside the top eight, wouldn’t “be satisfied” with just knocking off its bitter rivals.

“It gives our fans a reason to smile tonight. It’s always nice to beat your home-town rival. It just gives our fans a chance to drive or catch public transport home tonight and wear the jumper, the scarf or the beanie with a bit of pride,” Sanderson said.

“We’ve got enormous respect for what Port has done in the last 18 months. This is the best side in the competition and they were on top of the ladder. We’ve beaten some really good sides. I know people were waiting for us to beat a top-four side. The belief has always been there internally. It’s just about the execution under pressure and four quarters of effort.

“(Our fans also) Understand, we’ve got plenty of fight left in us. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got to finish this season off. There are eight games to go.

“We’ll enjoy this tonight, but we’ve got a six-day turnaround before we play the Giants. We won’t be satisfied with just beating Port this week. We have to take momentum into the rest of the season.”