Adelaide 3.3 7.9 11.10 15.10 (100)
Port Adelaide 4.6 6.6 9.8 12.11 (83)
GOALS: Adelaide - Walker 4, Betts 3, Knight 2, Otten 2, Lynch 2, Sloane, Mackay
Port - Wines, Wingard, R. Gray 2, Boak, Eddy, Dixon, Impey, Westhoff, Powell-Pepper
BEST: Adelaide - R. Sloane, M. Crouch, B. Smith, S. Jacobs, Hampton, Douglas, Walker.
Port - Ryder, Wines, Ebert, Byren-Jones, Boak.
Umpires: J. Dalgleish, S. Meredith, N. Williamson.
Official crowd: 53,698 at Adelaide Oval
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Adelaide Crows win the 42nd Showdown
Adelaide have finally squared the ledger with their bitter rival Port Adelaide, and move top of the AFL ladder after a thrilling win in Showdown XLII before a record 53,698 crowd at Adelaide Oval.
Adelaide have finally squared the ledger with their bitter rival Port Adelaide, and move top of the AFL ladder after a thrilling win in Showdown XLII before a record 53,698 crowd at Adelaide Oval.
Among the heroes for the Crows was captain Taylor Walker, who kicked telling goals from 51 and 65 metres in a rugged last quarter to break the spirit of the Power and set up the Crows 3-0 start to the season.
The sealer came when Port's Paddy Ryder felled Riley Knight behind play, and while visibly shaken he kicked the goal and ended the Power's hopes.
Adelaide's Rory Sloane won the Showdown Medal for one of his typical and tenacious performances, but overall this was a rugged battle between two determined outfits.
In a game of changing fortunes where both sides seemed to have the trophy in their hands, the Crows achieved an admirable comeback only to then find themselves needing to respond again.
After leading by 27 points, and Port got within seven points early in the last quarter, the Power slipped in cruel circumstances. Sam Gray hit the post from two metres, and Walker goaled from 51m after a long review.
It was the Crows' second quarter fight-back after yet another tardy start was most outstanding given the unrelenting pressure and fierce tackling produced by both sides.
The first of the turnarounds came through a decisive lift in form by Adelaide ruckman Sam Jacobs after quarter-time. He was slaughtered in ruck by Paddy Ryder, who had 23 hit-outs, five telling possessions and two tackles to give Port a clear advantage at the clearances and inside-50s. It was the Power of old, brute force and bursting out of the packs to stun their rivals.
But whatever coach Don Pyke, and the Crows midfielders talked about at quarter-time certain packed an even more powerful message as Jacobs responded magnificently and led an awesome charge of his own. Suddenly, Adelaide had the run and carry, and players who started off slowly because Port denied them the ball came into the game strongly.
It's not a recent Showdown without an Eddie Betts show... he went into the game with 24 goals against Port in six matches and sparked the Crows with another three.
There was also an unlikely hero for Adelaide – Andy Otten being taken out of the backlines to fill the hole left by the injured Josh Jenkins at centre half-forward. It was Otten's calmness under pressure and goals under pressure that also hurt Port badly in the Crows' comeback.
Of the 21 wins against Port (including a final), this had plenty of merit. There have been more gruelling and better polished Showdown performances, but like their other two wins this season Adelaide earned respect for their tenacity to claw their way back into the contest.
There were few signs of panic when Port burst from the opening bounce and led by 17 points. Adelaide stuck to their game plan, and raised the stakes by bringing superior numbers to every contest for the ball.
Port's Ryder was superb. It was his teammates who faded as they were bustled or pressured out of the tough clearances.
Ultimately, this game wasn't so much about who starred with the most kicks or goals, but who were kept relatively quiet. For most part Kyle Hartigan had the better of Port's regular hero Robbie Gray, while Jackson Trengove generally quelled the brilliance of Adelaide's Mitch McGovern.
There were a magnificent few minutes in the second quarter when Port looked like the champion of old. Justin Westhoff applied a superb tackle in defence on David Mackay which led to an Ollie Wines goal. The Crows looked like responding when Darcy Byrne-Jones laid an even better tackle on Walker to save a certain goal, and again Wines goaled.
That was at the 10 minute mark of the second term. Their next goal came when Tavis Boak goaled almost 20 minutes into the third quarter, and during this huge gap the Crows kicked 6.6 to 0.4. The reversal of supremacy was blatant as the Crows steamrolled to victory and Port racked up the inefficiency stats.
Full credit for Port to get within a goal early in the last term, but ultimately they succumbed to the pressure and mistakes at crucial moments.
VOTES
R. Sloane (Adel) 8
M. Crouch (Adel) 8
P. Ryder (PA) 8
O. Wines (PA) 8
B. Smith (Adel) 7