Melbourne v Adelaide: Crows hold on to claim tough win over Demons

ADELAIDE       5.2        8.5      15.8      18.12     (120)
MELBOURNE  2.3      10.4      14.5        15.8       (98)
GOALS – Adelaide:  Betts 3,  Douglas 3,  Walker 3,  Cameron 2,  Jenkins 2,  McGovern 2, Lyons,  Atkins,  Lynch. Melbourne:  Garlett 4, Hogan 3, Watts 3, Kennedy, Kent,  Harmes,  Hunt, N Jones.
BEST – Adelaide: Walker, Laird, Sloane, Cameron, Lynch,  B Crouch, M Crouch,  Atkins,  Lyons. Melbourne: N Jones,  Garlett, Watts, Tyson, N Jetta, Hunt, Hogan
UMPIRES Meredith,  Hay, Chamberlain,  Harris.
CROWD 29,133 at MCG.

Click here for a gallery of Adelaide and Melbourne's match at the MCG

There were moments when this match felt more like a movie script or a long-running television drama than a game of football. So many twists. So many turns. Such an unpredictable plot. 

Just when you thought Adelaide were more urgent, more intense and more easily able to score ... Melbourne kicked four goals at the start of the second quarter to look all those things and more.

Just when you thought the Demons were faster, more aggressive and hard to keep up with  ... the Crows kicked three goals in five minutes in a hectic start to the second half.

There was an energy about the Crows early on. It didn't really go away. That Matt Crouch, Rory Sloane and Brad Crouch got the ball for them while also laying a stack of tackles said a lot about their start.

Melbourne wasn't deprived of the ball in the first quarter,  but they were reacting to more things than they were able to generate. They were keeping up.

The Crows got the ball when it mattered and more importantly where it mattered. 

They put their opponents under pressure and they were able to create open, easy shots on goal for each other, then finish them off.

Melbourne reset, and to their credit they did so quickly. From the start of the second quarter it was their players winning the ball, driving the ball forward, forcing the Crows to react and respond.

Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson, James Harmes, Matt Jones and Dean Kent went after the footy. 

Jeff Garlett was in Adelaide's way all the time.Jayden Hunt left his player, intercepted the ball at half-back and helped set up a goal. Next, he streamed through the 50-metre line, confident to keep running and kick one of his own.

The match took its next shift after half-time. It was a familiar one, with Melbourne again having to slow the Crows down and get back into the match before being able to control it again.

Again, Adelaide played with urgency, kicking three goals in those first few minutes.

Eddie Betts was sharp. Charlie Cameron was just as smart. Tom Lynch worked hard like he always does. Brad Crouch finished with seven clearances, Sloane with 13 of the Crows' 100 tackles. Rory Atkins, Rory Laird and others kept trying to keep the ball moving.

Melbourne was able to hold the Crows up again, by the end of the third term. They trailed by nine points at the last break, and missed two shots early in the last quarter that would have forced a fourth shift.

Those misses burnt a little more when Cameron scored the first goal for the term – at the end of one of Adelaide's first true trips forward for the term – pushing the margin out towards three goals.

Suddenly  the Crows' lead felt steady. And then even more suddenly, it felt something much closer to safe.

Mitch McGovern missed his shot from right beside the goal post, a shame considering the front-of-pack mark he had just hauled in. But Jarryd Lyons scored soon  after, pushing the lead out to 22 points.

A James Harmes goal gave Melbourne a flash of hope, but when McGovern found his next chance, having awaited the arrival of a long, loopy handball, he made sure it went straight through.

The Demons fought on for much of the day, against a very good side. At their best they looked aggressive, proactive, like they wanted to make the Crows come after them and like they wanted to win and believed they could.

Adelaide looked all those same things though, for a little longer, with a bit more precision and with more players able to make sure they won.

They insisted, in the end, that they be the team to hold on.