PORT Adelaide returned to the top end, where they had their second win for the year against Richmond earlier in 2011, to take on the Melbourne Demons in the Round 17 clash at TIO Stadium, Darwin.

The Power have been ‘warming up’ for the game with sessions in heat chambers, preparing their bodies for the tough conditions - the day of the game reached a warm 33 degrees, but the evening of the game saw temperatures cooling by 5 degrees…so still pretty warm at 28 with 70% humidity, some ten degrees hotter than the warmest of days in Adelaide’s cold winter!

The Power made two changes to the side, omitting Broadbent and Daniel Stewart, bringing back Salopek and Pettigrew to face the Demons. They both started on the bench, along with Banner and David Rodan, who was selected as the sub after being subbed out against St. Kilda. Despite speculation that he would miss the game with the impending birth of his first child, Cassisi tossed the coin as skipper in multicultural round against Dees skipper Brad Green.

The Power won the opening bounce and moved forward before Lobbe earned a free kick, kicking long into the forward 50. The Dees rebounded immediately and charged forward, but Port won the defensive contest and got the ball outside 50, before Jurrah won the ball and gifted the first goal of the game to Petterd.

Lobbe was doing well in the ruck but the Demons once again worked the ball forward, with Maric kicking a goal, which was followed soon by another then another.

It looked like a fifth goal was on its way, but Pearce cut an attacking thrust off, fed it to Gray, who kicked short to Chad Cornes just outside 50 - he bombed it long and true for the first Power goal for the day.

Petterd answered it soon after to stretch the lead back out to over 4 goals in the first term.

A nice bit of work from Hitchcock set up Chad for a second goal, but his set shot was inaccurate - soon after Hartlett had a set shot from the same position and he too missed it wide. It took a snap from Banner to see the Power kick their second goal of the term, before the Dees kicked another through Petterd.

QUARTER TIME: 2.2. 14 to 6.2.38. Goals: C Cornes, Banner. Possessions: Cassisi 9, Hartlett and O'Shea 7, Banner, K Cornes, Ebert, Jacobs, Salter all with 6.

The Power worked the ball forward but a rebound 50 saw Jurrah get a lucky bounce over the head of Salter - he strolled into the goal to extend the lead and kick his first of the day.

A bad error by the Melbourne runner saw a likely goal to Green denied, but the Power couldn’t work the ball forward, with it dribbling out of bounds on the Melbourne half-forward line.

A great one-hander holding out Green by Chaplin saw another forward thrust by the Demons denied, but again the Power struggled to stop the forward squeeze that Melbourne were putting on the Port Adelaide defenders.

A strong mark by Ebert saw the Power’s first shot on goal for the quarter, and his long kick missed to the near side, but the defensive press by the Power worked this time, and O’Shea gave Salopek a chance to take a set shot inside 50. Unfortunately his kick too was wide of the mark.

Finally a fumble from the Demons allowed Pearce to take a shot on the move, and his kick was accurate, giving the Power their third goal of the game.

Some better work from the Power saw Pearce get the ball to Hitchcock on a tight angle in the pocket, but his set shot was perfect - straight over the goal umpire’s head. Jurrah answered it quickly.

A quick bit of ball movement after a poor shot on goal by Watts that sailed out on the full saw some great transition football with Banner the beneficially after being in the square for a goal - his second of the match.

Salter took a spectacularly high-flying mark to stop a Dees forward thrust, and Gray had terrific attack on the loose ball inside the 50 to earn the free - he nailed the goal to reduce the margin to 14 points.

HALF-TIME: 6.4.40 to 9.6.60. Goals: Banner 2, C Cornes, Pearce, Hitchcock, Gray. Possessions: O’Shea 15, K Cornes 14, Cassisi 13, Boak and Salopek 12, Thomas and Trengove 11, Gray and Salter 10.

The Demons got the quick break out of the centre, but were cut off, with Thomas going along the boundary before a big tackle by Chad earned a free, with he too going along the boundary - it seemed like a clear instruction at half-time to stay wide rather than risk bringing the ball inside and turning it over.

Martin goaled after a strong mark for the Dees, but a snap out of the pack landed with Hitchcock, who kicked the goal. Thomas then snapped an absolute pearler of a goal to cut the margin to under 3 goals with a desperate goal.

The Dees fiddled around with the ball before eventually Watts was able to get the ball to Gysberts, who answered Thomas’ goal in a clinical manner.

Lobbe got caught holding the ball deep forward, gifting a certain goal to Maric, as Rodan made his appearance for Ebert as the sub.

Sylvia nailed a goal as Chaplin gifted the ball out of the pack to a Melbourne player, with errors hurting the Power as the Dees run and carry continued to hurt and reflect on the scoreboard, as Green kicked another, then another.

Pettigrew got the ball on the half-forward flank and went one way and then the other before eventually hitting Gray lace out directly in front - he didn’t panic, and just did the right thing. Gray goaled with ease.

Petterd kicked his third as the quarter seemingly drew to a close, but not before Chad took a screamer and goaled.

THREE-QUARTER TIME: 10.5.65 to 16.8.104. Goals: Banner 2, Hitchcock 2, Gray 2, C Cornes 2, Pearce, Thomas. Possessions: Cassisi 22, Salopek 20, K Cornes, O’Shea, Thomas all 19, Pearce 16, Gray, Jacobs and Trengove with 15.

The Power won the first centre clearance, but the Demons had the first shot at goal for the term - missing to the right - but it was Chad who kicked the first goal, his third, of the quarter, while Jackson Trengove just missed a snap on goal.

Hitchcock just missed a snap on goal, thanks in part to the sheer hard work of Cassisi and Gray in the packs. Those two players were involved in the next scoring play, with Gray feeding it to Cassisi, who measured it beautifully for a goal.

A big kick by Hartlett from a long way out saw the Power boot another to keep the pressure on the Demons, with the Power finishing strongly, with Banner adding another to really tighten the game up.

An out of bounds on the full kick from an exhausted Hartlett saw the Dees stream into the forward 50, with Martin marking and running into goal.

Players looked absolutely out on their legs, with a kick at goal by Watts looking like that of a player that had nothing left to give - the same was true of players like Hartlett, who had given their all and had nothing left in the tank.

Pearce missed a shot on goal, with only a few minutes left in the match, and it seemed like the Dees had just enough to get the win.

FINAL SCORE: 14.8.92 to 17.11.113.

Goals: Banner 3, C Cornes 3, Hitchcock 2, Gray 2, Pearce, Thomas, Cassisi, Hartlett

Possessions: Cassisi and K Cornes 26, Thomas 25, Hartlett and Jacobs 22, Pearce 21, Hitchcock, O’Shea and Salopek 20.

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