PORT ADELAIDE has fallen to its second loss at Adelaide Oval this season after going down to Greater Western Sydney by 22 points on Sunday evening.
The Power trailed early after a poor first quarter but fought back from 34-points down in the second half to within nine points in the last quarter but it just wasn’t able to get in front.
Already missing ruckman Paddy Ryder to injury, Port Adelaide was on the back foot early with illness forcing Steven Motlop out of the starting side.
He was replaced by emergency Jack Trengove just prior to the first bounce.
The Giants had won the last three encounters between the sides and the Power made its intention to reverse the trend clear in a finals-like opening.
Brad Ebert, starting in a makeshift forward line because of Charlie Dixon’s move to the ruck, was the beneficiary, proving too strong for his opponent in the goal square and slotting the opening goal.
Power debutant Jarrod Lienert was given chance to settle into AFL football with a couple of early touches and didn’t look out of place on the night.
After Ebert’s goal, the Giants had the game on their terms with turnovers costing the Power.
The visitors booted the next four goals to take a 21-point advantage into the first change.
Jacob Hopper made it five straight goals for the Giants when he snapped out of the pack inside four minutes of the second term before Power captain Travis Boak halted the run with a set shot from 50 metres out.
Boak – wearing his former number 10 instead of the traditional number 1 jumper reserved for Port Adelaide captains because of a special Childhood Cancer Association “Captain for the day” event – had marked on the lead before going back and splitting the middle.
The Giants response was strong and immediate. Goals to Sam Reid and Toby Greene extended the lead to 33-points, forcing the Power to send Dixon forward.
He took a strong mark but fluffed his lines with his set shot from 25 metres on a slight angle before Justin Westhoff showed him how it was done with a strong mark of his own and set shot in the other pocket.
The Giants then wasted several opportunities, giving the home side a sniff at the main break despite the 26-point margin.
It was a tight arm wrestle for much of the third quarter as both sides failed to add a goal for nearly 17 minutes.
Robbie Gray finally got the first goal of the quarter after a free kick but the Giants responded with two of their own.
It was then that Charlie Dixon imposed himself with consecutive goals, before Gray capped a wonderful piece of team play, running into an open goal to kick an important major just before the siren sounded.
The play started with Karl Amon winning an important one-on-one inside defensive 50 and kicking it up the line where Chad Wingard leapt over a much taller opponent for a mark of the day.
The ball found its way inside 50 where Justin Westhoff trapped an opponent holding the ball but Gray capitalised on the advantage to close the margin to 16-points at the last break.
A goal to Charlie Dixon – his third and his side’s fourth in a row – inside the first minute of the last term had the Power back to within 10 points and the Giants were showing signs of nerves as their kicking efficiency dropped off.
But for all their effort and pressure, the Power couldn’t close any closer than nine points.
A controversial rushed behind
Goals to Giants Adam Tomlinson and Zac Langdon taking the wind out of the home side’s sails as the Giants won at Adelaide Oval for the second time this season.
SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 1.0 3.5 7.8 8.10 (58)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 4.3 7.7 9.12 11.14 (80)
GOALS
Dixon 3, R Gray 2, Westhoff, Boak, Ebert
BEST
Wines, Polec, Clurey, Lienert, Wingard, Dixon, Byrne-Jones
CROWD
34,693 at Adelaide Oval
