PORT ADELAIDE has beaten Adelaide by 57 points at Adelaide Oval in Showdown XLVII, thanks largely to dominant second half.
Port kicked nine goals to one in the last two quarters to run out comfortable victors in front of 50,544 people.
Robbie Gray was awarded his fifth Showdown Medal - his third in succession - after collecting 35 touches and 10 clearances.
There was drama early in the contest, with Travis Boak an extremely late out with back spasms, replaced by midfield bull Sam Powell-Pepper.
Powell-Pepper was amongst the possessions early, setting up Ryan Burton who swiftly ran through fifty and converted the opening goal of the game.
The Crows responded quickly with Wayne Milera who marked and slotted the goal, before Brad Ebert soccered one through to give the Power back the lead.
Adelaide were wasteful in front of goal with four behinds in a row, and Dougal Howard made them pay with a strong grab which he converted.
Scott Lycett left the field through a knee-on-knee collision, and the Crows took advantage with Taylor Walker kicking his first of the afternoon.
Lachlan Murphy marked on the siren but couldn’t convert, and the scores were locked 19 apiece at the end of the opening quarter.
Lycett started the second term in the ruck, but it was the Crows who hit the scoreboard first through a Matt Crouch snapped goal on the non-preferred.
Hugh Greenwood made it two-in-a-row for Don Pyke’s men, before Sam Gray snuck one in to wrestle back some of the momentum.
A long period of contested football with a fair bit of feeling was ended when Robbie Gray hit Charlie Dixon on the chest, who kicked his first to reduce the margin to one point.
The Power hit the front through Ebert’s second, after some more missed opportunities from the Crows.
At the major break it was Port who led by three points.
The lead didn’t last long as Adelaide co-captain Taylor Walker opened the scoring in the third term with a goal 15 seconds in.
Lycett responded soon after with a great solo effort against Riley O’Brien, turning his opposing ruckman inside out and finishing from 45.
Connor Rozee made it two-in-a-row for the Power with a snap tight in the pocket, before Justin Westhoff made it a 14-point margin early in the third quarter.
Sam Gray sold some candy on the mark and finished on his non-preferred left foot to give the Power a 20-point lead and seven of the last eight goals.
Rozee marked and kicked his second, before Howard slotted his second to make it six unanswered goals for Port, as they headed into the final break with a 35-point lead.
It was the Power’s turn to miss their chances early in the final quarter, with the first four scores all behinds.
It took 16 minutes, but finally Ebert kicked the opening goal of the final term - his third of the evening.
Zak Butters streamed through the 50 with three bounces and finished, before Steven Motlop snapped truly to make it nine goals on the trot for Ken Hinkley’s men.
Tom Rockliff racked up 36 touches in his first game back in the senior side, while Robbie Gray (35 disposals), co-captain Ollie Wines (33) and Darcy Byrne-Jones (31) were all prolific.
Westhoff was also great in his comeback from a fortnight out of the side with 23 possessions and 16 marks.
Ebert was potent in the forward line kicking three goals, while Howard, Rozee and Sam Gray kicked multiple majors.
Matt Crouch was best for the Crows with 29 touches, with Brodie Smith (25), Rory Laird (25) and Rory Sloane (23) also finding a bit of the footy.
Walker was the only Crow to manage multiple goals, as the Power ran out 57-point winners to reduce the Showdown gap to just one - 24-23 in Adelaide’s favour.
SCOREBOARD:
ADELAIDE 2.7 4.11 5.12 5.14 (44)
PORT ADELAIDE 3.1 6.2 12.5 15.11 (101)
GOALS:
Ebert 3, Howard, Rozee, S Gray 2, Motlop, Burton, Butters, Dixon, Lycett, Westhoff
BEST:
Robbie Gray, Burton, Clurey, Westhoff, Wines, Byrne-Jones, Lycett, Bonner, Rockliff
