Adelaide 3.8 4.13 8.18 12.28 (100)
North Melbourne 1.2 6.5 9.6 10.7 (67)
GOALS – Adelaide: Walker, Betts, M. Crouch, Douglas 2, Lynch McGovern, Atkins, Jenkins. North: Thomas 3, Brown 2, Gibson, Wood, Petrie, Ziebell, Harvey.
BEST – Adelaide: Sloane, Talia, Smith, M. Crouch, Jacobs, Atkins. North: Goldstein, McKenzie, Swallow, Cunnington, Dal Santo, Ziebell.
INJURIES – North: Daw (selection preference) replaced in selected side by R. Nahas; Ray (concussion).
UMPIRES – M. Stevic, B. Hosking, C. Kamolins, S. Meredith.
CROWD – 37,890 at Adelaide Oval.
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Brad Scott's bad week got worse at Adelaide Oval last night as North Melbourne failed to capitalise on Adelaide's woeful kicking for goal and were not anywhere near as sharp as they were before the bye.
Adelaide kicked 12.28 – their most inaccurate game ever, surpassing the 13.27 they kicked against Melbourne in round 20, 1993 – yet still won by 33 points with 59 inside-50 entries.
And to be given chances to stay in the game, and be within a kick at three-quarter time, spells concern for the Kangaroos, who have now lost four of their past five with an imminent surrender of their once comfortable top-four spot.
Their six-day break and travelling compared with Adelaide's 12-day rest will raise further discussion, but nothing should be taken away from Adelaide's effort. They were not as sharp as normal – possibly as a result of the bye too – but this contest was largely about finding something extra under extreme pressure.
There was the now expected miracle goal from Eddie Betts – bettered by a freak goal by Lindsay Thomas – and the inspirational 50 metre-plus drop punt goals from Taylor Walker, but it was the resilience of an ever-developing defence that really stood up to grab this win.
Daniel Talia won the combat with Drew Petrie, and the best-and-fairest Crow was backed up magnificently by Brodie Smith, Jake Lever, Luke Brown, Kyle Cheney and the ever-reliable Rory Laird.
The forwards have earned most of the praise for Adelaide's revival, but for this outstanding pack of six to hold a side like North to well under 100 points was a great effort.
Given the expected conditions - hail and thunder - it was not surprising that coach Brad Scott opted to replace Majak Daw, one of his four tall forwards, in favour of the 19cm shorter and 24kg lighter Robin Nahas, who returned to the senior list after being elevated from the rookie list yesterday. But there was not a drop of rain during the match and in hindsight Daw could have injected something into an ordinary forward line.
Given all of the drama surrounding Scott after last week's loss to Hawthorn it seemed ironic that both teams' opening score was determined by a long review, and both went in his favour. Rory Atkins kicked what everyone thought was a brilliant goal, but it was clearly touched and reversed, while Jack Ziebell kicked what every player thought was a touched behind but the review couldn't show anything and it stood as a goal.
However, it was only a relatively small part of the real frustration that mounted intensely for Adelaide coach Don Pyke in the first half, starting again with appalling kicking for goal. After leading by 22 points early, the Crows trailed by four points at half-time.
By this stage, the Roos sensed that Adelaide were rattled, and they were convinced when the Crows missed their fifth set shot from easy range.
Good finals teams answer much better – and eventually they did emphatically, albeit with continued poor kicking for goal.
There were numerous superb one-on-one contests, none better than between the ruckmen – Todd Goldstein with his superior taps, and Sam Jacobs with his brilliant play around the ground including contested possessions and strong marks.
The Crows had so many quality players, and their tenacity was epitomised brilliantly by Rory Sloane whose fearless attack on the ball and telling tackles inspired those around him.