MANY Adelaide players didn't realise Jared Petrenko had put the Crows in front in the dying seconds against the Kangaroos on Sunday, due to a scoreboard malfunction late in the game.
After Sam Kerridge kicked his fifth major to put the Crows within a goal, the scoreboard froze - keeping the Crows' score on 112, two goals behind North Melbourne.
According to Etihad Stadium spokesman Bill Lane, the operators of the scoreboard, Stadia Media, tried hard to rectify the problem - flashing a slide of the actual score up on the scoreboard, which showed, by the time it was displayed, Adelaide to be five points behind.
"It was far from ideal," Lane said.
"I believe it froze. I can't tell you a lot more at this stage but they are investigating the problem."
Kerridge admitted after the game that he wasn't sure whether the scoreboard was right or wrong as the match reached its frenetic climax.
"I had a thought that it hadn't changed when I kicked that goal but then when Jared kicked his goal to look up and see we were a point up… it was a bit weird obviously but a great feeling," Kerridge said.
Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson was concerned enough to raise the issue post-match but was not too fussed given the result.
"The players could see was that they were two goals down, not one goal down, I'm not sure how that happens, they were trying to fix it [the scoreboard] I know," Sanderson said.
"A lot of our players didn't know when Petrenko kicked that goal that we were in front."
A North Melbourne spokesman said no-one at their club had mentioned it as an issue after the game.