Crows show progress in 48-point win over Woodville-West Torrens

ADELAIDE state league coach Heath Younie insists his team is about more than player development. They want to win games and proved it against the Eagles.

Crows youngster Alex Spina takes a strong chest mark against the Eagles. Picture: Mark Brake.

EVEN Adelaide state league coach Heath Younie admitted it was going to take time for the side to develop and grow.

Nine rounds into the competition, the Crows are starting to flourish and create damage and their positive progression was evident at Woodville Oval on Saturday when they overpowered Woodville-West Torrens by 48 points.

This was a performance of substance and showed the Crows are starting to gel as a unit. And the critics who believe the Crows are all about development would be challenged by the spirit and hunger the Crows attacked the Eagles.

“'Hawthorn and Geelong have been powerful clubs and they have made a real impression in the VFL,”' Younie said.

“They have tried to win games and premierships.

“Development can occur Monday to Friday. We still want to win - everyone wants to win.

“We knew it would take time. The players are starting to buy in and gel and they are getting the reward for it.

“We stripped it back and got back to some basic fundamentals which are non negotiable for the team.”

The first quarter was a scoring feast with 11 goals kicked as the two sides traded blows.

The Crows were able to win plenty of ball at the stoppages courtesy of ruckman Shaun McKernan and the likes of Matt and Brad Crouch and Ian Callinan were busy.

Gene Robinson was a lively scoring option for the Crows while down back, Brent Reilly, Kyle Hartigan and Sam Shaw were able to quell the dangerous Eagles attack.

As the contest lengthened, the Crows cause was helped by the poor decision making and sloppy skills of the Eagles, who had too many players struggling for composure against the terrific Crows pressure.

The Eagles were rushed in much of their work while the Crows were more proactive and committed to creating options, thus producing more effective movement.

No more evident was the Eagles' woes than in the fourth quarter when three teammates flew for a mark unopposed. All three fell to the ground and the ball spilled over the boundary.

Eagles coach Michael Godden did not hide his frustration when he described his team’s effort as amateur hour.

“The way we played was amateur hour and I'm really annoyed with us,'' Godden said.

“We could not even take a chest mark ... sad day.

“The Crows were good and I don't want to take anything away from them.

“But we had terrible decision making, could not see a spare man, kicked to three on one - how many times did we kick the ball out of bounds on the full?”