Patrick Dangerfield believes the Crows rediscovered their effort and intensity in Showdown XXXVIII, but says his team’s skill execution is still lacking.

Adelaide responded to a lacklustre performance against the much-improved Western Bulldogs last weekend with a committed display against Port Adelaide on Sunday.

After a slow start against the Dogs, the Crows kicked the opening two goals of the Showdown but conceded the next seven majors as the Power skipped to a 26-point lead in the second quarter.

That’s not to say the Crows didn’t have their chances.

Adelaide generated 23 inside 50ms to Port Adelaide’s eight in the second quarter. The ball was in Adelaide’s forward half for more than 80 per cent of the second term, but the Crows could only manage a wasteful 2.5 while the Power slotted three straight to lead by 17 points at half time.

The trend continued in the second half. Adelaide finished with more scoring shots (26-25) and 29 more inside 50m entries (71-42), but Port kicked an efficient 18.7 (115) to the Crows’ 13.13 (91) to run out 24-point winners.

“The execution kicking inside 50m is what really let us down,” Dangerfield said after the game.

“I think the end result was 70-odd inside 50ms to (us) under 50 (for Port Adelaide). On one hand, that’s a real positive for us. But they pushed numbers back in defence, we kicked to their spare player and they rebounded it out well.

“We just needed to lower our eyes and hit our targets better than we did today.”

The Crows kicked a run of six behinds across the first and second quarters before captain Taylor Walker found the middle for his team’s third goal after the 20-minute mark of the second term.

“That’s AFL footy – you’ve got to make the most of your opportunities. We’re under no illusions that Port are a very good side. They capitalised when they got their chance and we didn’t do that tonight,” Dangerfield said.

“At the end of the day, the number one pressure act is scoreboard pressure and we weren’t able to get the margin back into single digits and apply that pressure.”

Coach Phil Walsh said the Club would continue to focus on kicking at training.

“Right now, we’ve just got to get our skills a little bit better and our method inside 50m,” Walsh said.

“It’s really hard, though, training to get the intensity and pressure like the guys were under tonight. We’ll show guys some vision of, maybe, some better options moving forward. We just need a bit of composure as well.

“(I was pleased) from an effort point of view. I think those fundamentals that I talk about … we showed them tonight.

“Maybe, at times we just didn’t have the class that Port Adelaide had when they went forward.”

Walsh praised Port Adelaide’s ability to isolate specific match-ups in its forward line.

The Crows opted to field a shorter backline on Sunday after leaving key defender Kyle Hartigan out of the team.

Adelaide’s back six, including Daniel Talia, Kyle Cheney and Jake Kelly, had their hands full with Port’s three-pronged attack of Jay Schulz, Paddy Ryder and Justin Westhoff, who combined for 10 goals

“We knew that going in (we were undersized in defence),” Walsh said.

“I thought Jake Kelly tried really hard tonight but they were really smart and isolating him deep in play. They got a couple of goals from that. We’ll have a look at that and I’ll put my hand up for that (decision).

“Jake Lever played quite well (in the SANFL on Sunday) and Kyle Hartigan went back to the state league, so we’ve got some guys there (to call upon).”

Forward Eddie Betts, who slotted five goals, was Adelaide’s best player on Sunday.

Dangerfield topped the possession count with 36, to go with a game-high 14 clearances and seven tackles.

Midfielder Scott Thompson was also excellent, finishing with 29 possessions, nine clearances, six tackles and two brilliant goals. Dangerfield said Thompson had been a welcome addition to the team since returning from a hamstring injury in Round Three.

“Thommo had a limited pre-season, but he’s built up over the better part of 14 or 15 years,” Dangerfield said.

“He runs as well as anyone in the competition and he’s a class act. Those two goals tonight exemplified that tonight.”

The Crows will now have six days to prepare to tackle the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium.

Dangerfield said his team could take positives out of its Showdown performance.

 “We need to bring the same energy, enthusiasm and aggression that we brought tonight. We just need to sharpen the bow and improve our execution.”