A heart-in-mouth Showdown has seen Port Adelaide claim its 21st Showdown victory over the Adelaide Crows by four goals.
Crucial late goals to Jay Schulz and Justin Westhoff sealed the match for the Power after it let a 26-point lead early in the second quarter get chopped back to as close as five points during the third term.
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From there, Port gripped the hot football tightly and maintained coolness in defence to stare down the Crows in another classic between the two bitter rivals.
Port's tall forward line stood up with strong marking in what was a difficult evening for the Power defensively.
Between them, Schulz, Westhoff and Paddy Ryder kicked 10 goals.
It was an impressive, albeit surprising return from limited supply.
While the Power seized the early initiative with five consecutive goals to quarter time, the Crows hit back to register 17 more attacking entries in the second quarter.
Normally that would reap significant score, but thanks to the Power's sturdy defence, the Crows could only convert two second term goals.
Even with the Crows flexing their muscle at stoppages, Port's defence was workmanlike and cleared the ball to safety.
Often, it wasn't pretty, but it was enough to create opportunities to run the ball into attack.
A single-handed return of five goals by mercurial Crow Eddie Betts kept Adelaide's hopes alive during the third term, but his efforts were effectively neutralised by night's end thanks to a commensurate performance by Power leading man Schulz.
His five-goal performance mirrored last week's starring effort against Hawthorn, and a four-goal haul in a pressure game against North Melbourne the Saturday prior.
Even with the Crows rallying to come within five points during the third quarter, the Power was able to kick back out to a 13-point buffer at the final change.
Thanks to strong clearance work from Showdown Medallist Robbie Gray, and elite midfield performances from Brad Ebert and Travis Boak, the Power's engine room fired back into gear late off the back of a superb central ruck performance from Matt Lobbe.
The win is Port Adelaide’s 21st in the South Australian derby, and third for the season to walk into Round 6 with a positive 3-2 ledger.
Port Adelaide now leads the Crows by four in the overall Showdown ledger.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 5.1 8.1 12.6 18.7 (115)
ADELAIDE CROWS 2.3 4.8 9.11 13.13 (91)
PORTADELAIDEFC.COM.AU’S BEST
Ebert, Gray, Boak, Westhoff, Schulz, Lobbe, Carlile
GOALS
Schulz 5, Ryder 3, Hartlett, Mitchell, Westhoff, Wingard 2, Gray, Boak
SUBSTITUTES
Jared Polec replaced Jackson Trengove in the fourth quarter
SHOWDOWN MEDAL
Robbie Gray (PA)
Voting: Gray 14 votes, Boak (PA) 11, Betts (ADL) 9, Ebert (PA) 4, Schulz (PA), Thompson (ADL) 2
CROWD
49,735 at the Adelaide Oval
