ADELAIDE has pushed its 2007 season into the black - and proved Port Adelaide remain some way from the finished article - with a tactically astute 24-point victory over the Power in the Showdown at AAMI Stadium.

Mirroring the ‘restrict and conquer’ strategy that had undone the similarly speedy Western Bulldogs last week, the Crows slotted the day's first three goals and headed off a third term charge by the Power before winning 13.9 (87) to 8.15 (63) in front of 36,959 people - the smallest crowd in Showdown history.

Port Adelaide's anguish at a sluggish performance was compounded by a badly sprained ankle to ruckman Dean Brogan, who limped off in the second quarter and may not be seen again for several weeks.

Backline sweeper Andrew McLeod was again outstanding for Adelaide to be best afield, while Martin Mattner, Scott Thompson, Brent Reilly and Ben Hudson also had an influence.

Coach Neil Craig delighted in the contributions of his younger players on a day when Tyson Edwards and Simon Goodwin had only 33 possessions between them.

"Last week a lot of recognition went to and should have gone to our senior players, whereas today I think it swung towards the other way with how our young players went," he said.

"I think we had eight players today with 50 games or less so for them to perform on an arena like the Showdown and win it is a great credit to them."

Ben Rutten continued his dominance of Warren Tredrea, restricting Port's captain to one goal in his comeback appearance.

A tall forward line composing Scott Welsh (four goals), Ian Perrie (three), Scott Stevens (two) and Nathan Bock (one) stretched Port, which in hindsight could have done with omitted defender Troy Chaplin.

Port Adelaide was kept in the contest for three quarters through the efforts of the Burgoyne brothers and Brendon Lade, though Shaun Burgoyne will rue kicking four behinds before registering his side's first goal for the match.

Both sides suffered foreseen but important omissions prior to the bounce: Crows forward Matthew Bode absent due to leg soreness and Power whippet Danyle Pearce unable to shake off a sore hamstring.

There were a few surprises when the teams matched up, Mattner given the job of minding Brett Ebert, while Stevens again lined up in the Adelaide forward line.

He was to provide one of several important attacking options as the Crows skipped to an early lead, then defended it with kick-to-kick late in the first term.

Mark Williams' prediction that Adelaide would attempt to clog the Power was well-founded, the Power finding themselves faced by a defensive flood whenever they moved forward.

Needing to attack through traffic as a result, they lacked composure in front of goal, leading to a 3.10 halftime ledger.

"When we went inside 50 they probably had nine players in there, which meant we were either kicking from a long way out or were under pressure to make decisions," Williams said.

"We appreciate what they were trying to do but they did it better than our plans to counter-act that.

"They've done it before to us, they tried to do it in Round 21 last year and we dealt with it better, and we need to continually work on it.

"You need to be more productive than we were today, we probably dropped about five marks inside 50 that given the circumstances, you have to take those chances."

By contrast, the Crows were often able to break cleanly, usually via McLeod, and quality disposal afforded enough opportunities for Bock, Stevens, Welsh and Perrie to stretch the lead to 23 points at the main break.

Adelaide's strangulation tactics required plenty of hard running, and the Crows appeared to tire as the final change neared, allowing Port Adelaide to close the gap to a more-than-manageable 14.

But Tredrea was denied what appeared a clear mark within range of goal inside the first minute of the final term, and the Power were deflated thereafter.

Goals: Adelaide: S Welsh 4 I Perrie 3 S Stevens 2 B Reilly J Porplyzia N Bock B Burton. Port Adelaide: B Lade 2 W Tredrea S Salopek S Burgoyne J Surjan N Krakouer B Ebert.

Best: Adelaide: A McLeod M Mattner N Bassett B Hudson S Thompson B Reilly B Rutten. Port Adelaide: P Burgoyne B Lade C Cornes S Burgoyne S Salopek.

Injuries

Adelaide: M Bode (leg soreness) replaced in selected side by B Vince.

Port Adelaide: D Pearce (sore hamstring) replaced in selected side by T Logan, D Brogan (sprained ankle).

Reports: Nil.

Umpires: M Head R Chamberlain S Ryan.

Official crowd: 36,959 at AAMI Stadium.