Port Adelaide has suffered its worst loss of the season, going down by 100 points to Norwood at the Parade on Friday night.

The Redlegs simply had too much firepower up forward, with the tandem of Taylor Walker and Stuart Bown having a night out.

The pair combined for 11 goals and 22 marks, to which Port Adelaide had no answer.

Luke Harder was dangerous early but wasted opportunities in front of goal before Ivan Maric snapped the first major for the Magpies.

After that it was one way traffic as Norwood piled on four more unanswered goals going into the first change up 29 points.

Port Adelaide tried to make the adjustment early in the second to stop the bleeding, but Norwood ripped the band aid right off as it poured in another 5 goals for the term.

‘It stemmed the flow for a little while but in the end they were far too good for us in all facets of the game’, said Magpies’ Coach Tony Bamford.

The little resistance that the team showed was largely thanks to Bradley Mercer who kicked 4 goals from 4 kicks, and had 6 marks for his 7 possessions.

But it was tough for Port Adelaide’s forwards to get anything going in a game when their supply was extremely limited.

Port Adelaide really paid with its sloppy possession of the football out of defence and Walker and Bown were happy to make them pay.

Indeed, Walker made his presence felt in this contest, and no more so than when he put down first gamer, Justin Hoskin with a hard hit after a mark.

Despite the hard knock, Coach Bamford expressed his pleasure with the rookie.

‘Justin Hoskin, first game across half back, given the amount of ball coming his way, won some one-on-ones, rebounded, took the game on, he was one of the few that can hold his head up high’.

Port Adelaide struggled with the intensity and effectiveness of Norwood’s defensive pressure, particularly inside 50.

‘Our defensive pressure was certainly as good as it’s been for a while’, Redlegs’ Coach Nathan Bassett said.

Although Port Adelaide won the hit-outs and centre clearances, they never really looked like putting too much pressure on the scoreboard.

And when they did, Norwood always had an answer.

Port Adelaide never managed to string two together, and Norwood made them pay when they wasted what limited opportunities they did have.

Mark Dolling was good around the ball, getting plenty of clearances and worked hard for the footy all night.

Nathan Eagleton, who was the last remaining inaugural Port Adelaide Power team member in the AFL last year, stood up for the Redlegs amongst some close treatment from the Magpies on ballers.

Bamford expressed his disappointed with the result and said, ‘we were well below where we wanted to be tonight’.

However, he did not think that the loss reflected the overall talent of the team.

‘It was certainly not a true indication of where we are at’.

Matt Lokan had a milestone match he’d rather forget, first having the difficult task on Taylor Walker before sustaining an ankle injury that saw him sit out the rest of his 100th match.

Final Score:

Norwood 6.2 11.4 16.8 22.12 (144)

Port Adelaide 1.3 3.4 4.7 6.8 (44)

Goals: Mercer 4, Maric 2

Best: Dolling, Summerton, Mercer, Hoskin