3 minute read
After giving up a 33-point lead to lose last week Adelaide have turned the tables coming from 31 points down to defeat Melbourne in Darwin.
Adelaide hit the front for the first time in time-on in the last quarter to nab a thrilling two-point AFL win against Melbourne after being down by 31 points during the third quarter.
The Crows avoided a third loss in a row to get a sixth win and turned the tables after giving up a 33-point lead to lose last week against West Coast.
The Demons had led the entire match at TIO Stadium in Darwin from the moment they kicked a behind in the first couple of minutes of the match.
Crowd favourite Eddie Betts produced some brilliance kicking it from the boundary line to Brad Crouch who put the Crows in front.
Adelaide won by two points 14.6 (90) to 12.16 (88) after kicking 5.2 (32) to Melbourne's wasteful 1.8 (14) in the final quarter.
As well as setting up the winning goal Betts also kicked one in the final quarter, his second for the match.
Key Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins - who was recalled after controversially spending six weeks in the reserves - could have received a free kick for being tackled high but shook off his opponent and kicked a goal anyway.
Sam Weideman had a chance to win it for Melbourne with 30 seconds left but missed a set shot from nearly 50 metres out directly in front.
"Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield and tonight we ended up the windshield," Crowd coach Don Pyke told reporters.
Such a result "doesn't hurt, no doubt" the group's self-belief, he said.
He praised Bryce Gibbs' efforts playing a tagging role on Clayton Oliver in the second half, who was recalled after being dropped amid questions about his defensive efforts.
The Demons had appeared set to repeat last year's thrashing of the Crows in Alice Springs and looked slicker than they had in what has been a bitterly disappointing year.
Melbourne players who went into the game under pressure over their form such as Nathan Jones and Jack Viney were playing well earlier and helping fellow midfielders Clayton Oliver and James Harmes win more clearances.
Demons coach Simon Goodwin blamed the loss on Melbourne's inaccuracy in the second half rather than a drop in their effort or will to win.
"We are obviously frustrated, it was a bit of a story of our season .... a tale of two halves," he said.
The first two quarters were entertaining and high scoring with the Demons seemingly breaking the shackles after going from the most potent scorers this time last year to the second-least currently.
However, the Crows hit back after half time and finished stronger in Darwin's heat which remained above 25C all night in front of a pro-Adelaide crowd of 10,634.
