Will Hamill, Brayden Cook, Lachie Murphy and Tom Lynch played important roles in Adelaide’s 15-point loss to the undefeated Glenelg at ACH Group Stadium on Saturday.
The Crows led the first three breaks against the SANFL ladder leaders but succumbed to a 17.8 (110) to 14.11 (95) defeat.
Lynch returned from injury and finished with 17 disposals and three goals, while Cook (Pick 25, 2020 draft) kicked a SANFL career-high four goals.
Murphy ran through the midfield and found 20 disposals, laid 13 tackles and had five clearances in wet and muddy conditions.
Hamill led the way with 22 disposals and eight marks, while Ronin O’Connor had 21 disposals, 12 tackles and eight clearances.
Adelaide development coach Brent Reilly was impressed with the effort of the forward line but said lapses throughout the game cost his side.
“It was disappointing that we couldn’t go on to claim the win,” he said.
“Lachie Gollant (three goals) was excellent in his defensive forward job on Chris Curran and it was great for Lynch to come back and kick three goals.
“Cook is a real talent and today he showed what he can do.
“We are gelling as a group and competing well against the good teams, but we have to put four quarters together.”
Coming in with an attitude to upset the benchmark side of the competition, Adelaide started well and led by eight points at quarter time, thanks to 14 first quarter inside 50m entries to seven.
Lynch enjoyed five first quarter disposals, while Gollant snapped the first goal of the game.
As they have all season, the Crows looked dangerous when transitioning from defence to attack as Hamill and Cook linked up through the middle of the ground to help Lynch to his first goal.
Tariek Newchurch also started the game brightly with three early disposals and snapped his first goal to return Adelaide to the lead at the 19-minute mark.
Boyle, Cook, Hall and Gollant all had wayward set shots late in the term which would have put breathing space between Adelaide and the Tigers in what was a quarter dominated by the Crows' pressure and ability to create repeated scoring shots.
Following a Marlon Motlop goal early in the second term, heavy rain started to tumble which made the game became a scrap, but Adelaide managed to extend its lead to 15 points through Tim Baccanello and Lynch goals.
Magarey Medallist Luke Partington (31 disposals, three goals) started to lift for Glenelg and managed a clever goal from a congested pack at the 14-minute mark, before setting up the next McBean major two minutes later.
Adelaide kicked the first goal of the second half when Murphy found Shane McAdam inside 50m who turned and found Darcy Fogarty on a strong lead.
Fogarty finished with an accurate set shot to give the Crows an eight-point lead, but the experienced Glenelg started to turn the screws, finding three goals in six minutes to take a 12-point advantage mid-way through the third term.
A costly turnover in the back half gifted Newchurch his second goal, which kept Adelaide in the hunt, before Cook finished off another end-to-end passage of play to level the scores.
Refusing to go away, Adelaide locked the ball in its forward half to close out the quarter and Cook kicked his second goal less than five minutes before three quarter time.
Adelaide led by eight points at the final break.
The all-important first goal of the final term went the way of the Tigers and they quickly reclaimed the lead when Darcy Bailey nailed a goal from the resulting centre clearance.
Glenelg’s lead grew to 10 points when a McAdam bump on Adelaide’s half forward line resulted in multiple 25m penalties and a goal.
Cook’s third and fourth goals kept the Crows in the game, but Glenelg kicked three of the final four majors to secure the win.
Adelaide travels to Victor Harbor next Saturday to face South Adelaide.
ADELAIDE: 3.3, 6.5, 10.8, 14.11 (95)
GLENELG: 2.1, 6.2, 9.6, 17.8 (110)
Best: Hamill, Cook, Lynch, McPherson, Strachan, Gollant, Boyle
Goals: Cook 4, Gollant, Lynch 3, Newchurch 2, Baccanello, Fogarty
