"What a champion he is. He's the most important footballer right now in this state." - Bruce McAvaney
The words of the great commentator Bruce McAvaney had never rung truer.
Chad Wingard had just put Port Adelaide into the lead in Showdown XXXV - the final derby to be played at AAMI Stadium - and celebrated like he had single-handedly won a grand final.
Port hung on to beat the Crows, but it wasn't just any Showdown victory.
This was a victory in the greatest ever game between the two sides.
Adelaide started the match on fire - goals to Lewis Johnston and Patrick Dangerfield had given them an early two-goal lead.
But it was just as easily leveled by the work of Port's big full forward Jay Schulz and the freakish boot of Hamish Hartlett.
They would be the Power's only goals for the quarter, and Dangerfield would scratch another goal onto the board for the 'home' side to help the Crows to a seven-point buffer at the first change.
Then the Power flicked the switch.
Goals to John Butcher, Wingard and Robbie Gray took the lead from the Crows and from there it looked like Port wouldn't look back all afternoon.
Matthew Wright got one back for Adelaide, but Gray's second, Angus Monfries' first and Hartlett's last two for the afternoon looked to have stuck the knife into the Crows' backs.
They were done. Surely.
21 points ahead and a dominant performance in the second quarter would have most pundits expecting the Power, the fancied side for the match, to cruise home.
If they thought that, they were wrong.
Jared Petrenko began the Adelaide resurrection immediately after half time by banging home two goals; Port by nine.
Johnston and Dangerfield then joined the party to take the lead eight minutes into the quarter.
Schulz and Wingard struck back for the Power though in a five-minute period of good work by the Power.
But the Crows kept coming, their hardness and commitment grabbing the game by the scuff of the neck with three goals to wrest control back and hold a 12-point lead at the final change.
Using the ensuing break to settle, Port stormed out of the blocks with Wingard registering his third for the afternoon in the first 19 seconds.
Sam Colquhoun put Port within a point at the ten-minute mark.
The Power were still in it.
But Adelaide again lifted and Johnston and Dangerfield registered their fourth goals for the game to strike a nail into the Power's coffin.
A point to Tom Lynch had helped to solidify a 14-point lead before Ricky Henderson kicked truly to extend the buffer to 20 points.
With just over six minutes left on the clock and the momentum in Adelaide's favour, the curtains looked closed.
Every commentator said so - the Power would need a miracle to kick four goals in six minutes.
Robbie Gray put his third for the afternoon with under six left - back to 14 points.
Then Wingard coolly slotted his fourth for the day. Eight points, three minutes left.
The odds were still against them, but the momentum had definitely swung.
A long kick from Jackson Trengove fell into the path of Angus Monfries with 1:30 left on the clock.
His kick looked a certain point - off line and spinning sideways in the air.
The ball hits the ground. The ball breaks right. The ball bounces through the middle.
A three-metre deviation goal had brought the margin back to 2 points with 90 seconds left in the game.
Ripping out of the ensuing bounce and towards the Gavin Wanganeen pocket, young Ollie Wines dished the ball to the magician Monfries.
Instead of taking the shot, he squared the angle off the side of his boot - putting it towards a pack of players directly in front of the goals.
Seemingly from the heavens came Chad Wingard, marking strongly for the game.
With 30 seconds left in the match, he calmly guided the ball straight through the middle.
The Power supporters consigned to the northern grandstand and behind the goals with the club's cheer squad erupted.
The four-point win was the closest result in a Showdown and, undoubtedly, the most exciting.
And Chad Wingard had instantly become every Power supporter's new favourite player.
Other Footy Park Flashbacks
#3 Showdown I, 1997: Port Adelaide def Adelaide Crows
#4 Grand Final, 1977: Port Adelaide def Glenelg
#5 Round 5, 2013: Port Adelaide def West Coast Eagles
#6 Round 22, 2002: Port Adelaide def Brisbane Lions
#7 Grand Final, 1994: Port Adelaide def Woodville-West Torrens
#8 Round 8, 2012: Port Adelaide def North Melbourne
#9 Grand Final, 1990: Port Adelaide def Glenelg
#10 Round 3, 1997: Port Adelaide def Geelong
#10-#20 Footy Park Flashbacks bottom ten
FINAL SCOREBOARD
PORT ADELAIDE 2.1 9.3 11.4 17.5 (107)
ADELAIDE CROWS 3.2 5.6 12.10 15.13 (103)
Goals: C. Wingard 5, R. Gray, H. Hartlett 3, A. Monfries, J. Schulz 2, J. Butcher, S. Colquhoun
Best: Wingard, Gray, Boak, Cornes, Ebert, O'Shea
Captain: T. Boak
Coach: K. Hinkley
Crowd: 43,368 at AAMI Stadium
