Crows lose to Eagles, but do Phil Walsh proud

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WEST COAST 4.0 12.7 15.10 22.15 (147) ADELAIDE 6.2 6.3 11.5 14.7 (91)
GOALS West Coast: Gaff 3, Yeo 3, Darling 2, Hill 2, Kennedy 2, Shuey 2, LeCras 2, Masten, Sheed, Cripps, Priddis, Selwood, Wellingham. Adelaide: Walker 3, Cameron 2, Betts 2, Jenkins 2, Knight 2, Smith, Wright, Lynch.
BEST: West Coast: Gaff, LeCras, Shuey, Priddis, Naitanui, Yeo. Adelaide: Dangerfield, Laird, Crouch, Smith, Douglas, Betts.
UMPIRES Jeff Dalgleish, Dean Margetts, David Harris.
CROWD 38,133 at Domain Stadium.

Adelaide, take a bow.

Got it: Adelaide's Taylor Walker marks in front of Sharrod Wellingham. Photo: Getty Images

In the face of adversity and after an incredibly emotional week, the Crows showed the fight that, dare I say it, Phil Walsh would have been proud of.

OK, they lost to West Coast by 56 points at Domain Stadium on Saturday night. But after they trailed by 40 points at half-time, having gone an entire quarter scoring just one behind, that margin could have been so much worse.

Remember, West Coast sits in second place on the AFL ladder and now have 10 wins from 11 games.

The Crows would have been excused by the footballing community if they had let the margin blow out to triple figures.

But they produced a stirring third term to give themselves momentum and a chance at the final break, trailing by 29 points.

In the end, West Coast benefited from what was clearly a better preparation, kicking four goals in the first eight eight minutes of the final term (seven for the quarter) to secure the result.

AFL coaches preach that without a perfect preparation, a game can get away from a side.

And no side in the history of the AFL has had to endure a lead-up to a game like  Adelaide. 

The early indications were not good for those hoping for a close battle – and to the credit of the usually aggressive Eagles crowd, even they were clearly empathetic to the Crows situation.

When Eddie Betts collected Matt Rosa high during a marking contest, right in front of the West Coast faithful, there was no usual words of "advice" from the crowd.

Adelaide also had a bye in round 11, so Saturday night's game was just their third game in five weeks.

And they started like a side who was short of a run. The Eagles had three goals on the board in a blink of an eye.

Adelaide's poor delivery hurt their attempts to go forward and when Matt Priddis snapped truly to give the Eagles an 18-point lead, the home side had gone forward 10 times; the Crows just once.

But youngster Charlie Cameron, drafted from WAFL club Swan Districts, kicked two goals in three minutes to get the Crows rolling.

And it was Patrick Dangerfield (32 possessions and 12 clearances) who dragged his side into the battle.

The Crows produced seven of the last eight scoring shots of the first term to lead at quarter-time by 14, with Matt Wright missing a set shot from 20 metres out on the  siren.

The run of the Crows went away when Dangerfield went from the ground very early in the second term with a split lip, after an Elliot Yeo tackle.

During the eight minutes that he was off the ground the Eagles took control. They  kicked only 1.3 in that time, but had managed to sway the momentum.

They kicked the next seven goals, including the first of the third term, from the boot of Luke Shuey, in his 100th game.

Sadly, the next Crows goal came from the boot of Wright, more than a quarter later and the margin had blown out to 46 points.

In terms of the premiership race, West Coast's second term was breathtaking.

Adelaide couldn't get their hands on the ball as the Eagles turned a 14-point deficit into a  a 40-point lead at half-time. Andrew Gaff was exceptional, finishing with 34 touches.

West Coast had 121 possessions for the quarter to the Crows 63; 21 inside 50 entries to Adelaide's six and kicked 8.7  to 0.1.

But in terms of giving something for Crows new coach Scott Camporeale is concerned going forward, the third term gave Adelaide plenty of upside.

The Crows kicked five goals for the term and won it by 11 points. Dangerfield, Rory Laird and Matt Crouch led the charge and first gamer Riley Knight dragged the margin back to 29 points at the final break with a late goal – the first of his career.

Adelaide players left the ground in tears to a standing ovation from the 38,133 crowd.