Crows coach Brenton Sanderson has praised his young team’s ability to stand up to the might of Geelong in a tense battle at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

Adelaide trailed at every change, but outscored the Cats, who missed two gettable shots in the dying 60 seconds, five goals-to-two in the nail-biting final quarter to record a famous two-point win.

Since coming from behind to topple North Melbourne in Round Nine, the Crows have struggled to close out tight games. A fortnight ago, Adelaide relinquished a two-goal lead in the final three minutes to lose to West Coast by six points. The Crows also led Collingwood by four goals at quarter time at the MCG in Round 16, but fell away and succumbed to a 27-point defeat.

Sanderson said Sunday night’s thrilling win would be invaluable experience for the Crows, who were the fourth-youngest side outside the expansion teams on the weekend.

“We were really young today. We had nine players under 50 games today and seven of those under 30 games,” Sanderson said.

“It’s good for those players to experience a really hard fought win like that – to be behind against a top-four side (and win). Geelong is an outstanding side. We have so much respect for them. To guts it out like we did, it really does set us up long-term.

“It’s good for those young boys and it’s good to win at home for our fans, who turn up and yell and scream every week. We haven’t had much success here this year, so to beat a top-four side at home is really good for our fans.

“It’s a little bit about mental toughness. It’s a little bit about concentration and it’s a little bit about having the poise and leadership to be able to take control when the game is really on the line. They are things we’re talking about a lot internally during the week.

“The Hawthorn game and the Fremantle and Collingwood games – we were in the games … we just made silly mistakes at crucial times. We’re working on that and sometimes you get those inconsistencies with a young side.

“Give us a few of those wins and we’re right in the mix. We’ll fight it out right until the end.”

On debut, Mitch Grigg was the least-experienced member of the Adelaide team. Sanderson was pleased with the way Grigg adapted to AFL footy.

“Griggy did some really nice things,” he said.

“It looked like he was finding the ball pretty well. He looked comfortable.”

Sanderson was also “very satisfied” with the form of Richard Tambling, who was recalled for only his second game of the season after a month of dominant form at Sturt.

“Tambling did some really good stuff and there’s some stuff he still needs to work on,” he said.

“He’s played 120 AFL games, so he’s got experience. He’s got speed and he’s tough. At times, he really helped us. He outnumbered (contests) and tackled hard. He used the ball pretty well at times, but at other times he was one who made some poor decisions.

“We’re still working on that, but he should be happy with his game. He’s going to be an important player for us in the next six weeks.”

Regardless of Adelaide’s ladder position, Sanderson said the Club would continue to pick its best 22 each week.

“There’s been some advice, ‘put your young kids in and give them some exposure for the rest of the season and build for 2014’, but a footy season goes for 23 weeks,” he said.

“We’ll play this season out right until the final siren of the final game. We’ll keep picking a side that we think is going to win each week, whether that’s an 18-year-old or a 30-year-old.”

Adelaide’s attention will now turn to playing Fremantle at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.

“Freo will be a tough side to beat over there. They narrowly beat us here earlier in the season. It’s another must-win, but that’s the industry we’re living in at the moment,” Sanderson said.

“Our objective is to get across to Perth and start that game really well.

“It’s good to get the win today and a bit of confidence and self-belief, but we won’t be looking any further ahead than the first quarter against Fremantle next week.”