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Adelaide have defeated GWS by 21 points in Saturday night's AFL match at Adelaide Oval, with Josh Jenkins a standout.

Maligned Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins has booted three goals in a precious 21-point AFL win against GWS.

Jenkins was the standout forward in a tight Saturday night encounter at Adelaide Oval, helping his side triumph 12.10 (82) to 9.7 (61).

The Crows rose from eighth spot to fifth on the ladder by inflicting the fourth loss of the season on the second-placed Giants.

Jenkins' goalscoring - in his second game back in AFL ranks after being banished to the state league for six games - was crucial, while captain Taylor Walker (two goals) was influential in a tense last quarter.

Adelaide slipped four points behind some 11 minutes into the last term but finished with a flourish, booting the last four goals of the game.

The flurry started with Walker's pack mark and conversion and ended with an Eddie Betts trademark: a freakish snap from near the boundary.

"That game ebbed and flowed a bit," Crows coach Don Pyke said.

"And when we were asked a question in that last quarter we were able to find something, hit the scoreboard consistently and get a good win."

Adelaide's Crouch brothers were prolific ball-winners - Matt had a team-high 34 disposals and Brad collected 31 and kicked a goal, and teammates Wayne Milera (21 possessions) and Rory Laird (28 possessions) were prominent.

The Giants were superbly served by onballers Tim Taranto (36 disposals, seven tackles) and Josh Kelly (33 touches, two goals), while Stephen Coniglio and Heath Shaw both gathered 27 possessions.

Both sides suffered late withdrawals - GWS star Toby Greene didn't overcome a knee injury while Adelaide's Tom Lynch hurt a calf muscle in the pre-match warm-up and was a last-minute scratching.

Despite losing Lynch, the Crows opened strongly but failed to convert their dominance into scoreboard advantage - they logged 32 inside 50s to 17 by halftime but led by just nine points.

But when Jenkins opened the goal scoring for a third consecutive quarter and teammate Lachlan Murphy snapped accurately a minute later, the home side held a 21-point break six minutes into the third term.

The Giants then rallied and, when Kelly slotted his second major late in the quarter, the visitors were in front for the first time.

But GWS' four-point advantage at the last change rapidly disappeared in the last term when Crows Rory Sloane and Brad Crouch goaled, only for the Giants to reply twice to restore their four-point lead.

Walker then crunched a pack and took a high mark and goaled, triggering Adelaide's defining late scoring spree.