A bit of Steve Motlop magic stuns Adelaide Crows in electrifying Showdown 44
He played in plenty of them. But Port Adelaide premiership captain Warren Tredrea says the incredible finish to Showdown 44 was hard to match as a spectacle in Part 3 of our Greatest Showdowns series.
The greatest Showdown ever, with the most electrifying finish.
Steven Motlop nailing the winning goal to give Port Adelaide the lead by five points with only 21 seconds left on the clock to claim hometown bragging rights over cross-town rivals Adelaide.
It was the Crows who started brightly, leading by 17 points at the first beak, Don Pyke’s midfield were on top and coping well without a host of injured stars including Rory Sloane, Brodie Smith and Wayne Milera.
In the second quarter the Power came to life, Sam Gray goaled, but it was quickly cancelled out by back-to-back goals to Paul Seedsman and Cam Ellis-Yolmen.
Port Adelaide skipper Travis Boak soon after kicked truly and all of a sudden, the game was in the balance.
But if there was ever a goal that gave Port Adelaide hope, it was Robbie Gray’s first a minute before half time.
Enter the Robbie Gray Showdown 44 show.
The third quarter was all the Power, piling on seven goals to two.
Gray with was on fire with seven disposals (at 100 per cent effectiveness), three clearances and five majors for the term.
But this game was far from over.
With early goals from the Power’s Paddy Ryder and Crows superstar Eddie Betts, Sam Powell-Pepper kicked truly to give Port Adelaide a 17-point lead, a remarkable margin considering the Power were down by 27 points midway through in the second term.
Tom Jonas was on top of Betts, but Eddie never stays quiet for long, he kicked truly with 24 minutes gone in the last quarter and gave Adelaide a glimmer of hope.
The Crows then seized the opportunity with skipper Taylor Walker kicking a colossal captain’s goal from well beyond the 50m arc to put Adelaide to within a kick, and it was game on again.
With the game in the balance, Chad Wingard had a moment of madness.
Port Adelaide still held a five-point lead and with only 90 seconds to go, Wingard won a free kick at half back.
Instead of icing the clock and killing time, Wingard quickly played on and kicked long to a 50/50 contest between Matt Crouch and Powell-Pepper.
Crouch out marked Powell-Pepper, he then found a fast-leading Mitch McGovern.
The game looked like to be on McGovern’s boot, he absorbed the pressure and kicked truly on the paint of 50 - belting a nail in Port Adelaide’s Showdown coffin with only 42 seconds to play.
With enough time to score, Crows coach Don Pyke reacted by sending his entire forward line bar Walker and Josh Jenkins behind the ball.
Hugh Greenwood won the clearance from the centre stoppage, but his pressured kicked found Power defender Dougal Howard at centre half back.
Howard belted a long kick towards the Port Adelaide 50m arc, and what happened next was almost slow motion.
As Howard’s kick was set to land at centre half forward, Port Adelaide was outnumbered three players to one, but in Adelaide’s desperation to intercept the ball, Richard Douglas cannoned into McGovern, spilling the ball to ground.
Port Adelaide’s Sam Gray gave to ball to the flying Motlop who dodged two Crows tacklers and kicked truly from 40 metres to win the game.
When the final siren sounded, Port Adelaide fans erupted and Motlop was the hero, kicking the most important goal in Showdown history in his first-ever South Australian derby.
But while he was hero of the moment, the hero of the day claiming his third Showdown medal was Robbie Gray, he finished with 20 disposals, five marks, five clearances and six goals.
This game had it all, a seesawing battle, physical clashes, and an electrifying Motlop finish after it appeared Adelaide had stolen it at the death.
“We knew all the talk was about 0-5, it was pretty emotional for us all that we were able to somehow find a way to win tonight,” an excited Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said post match.
“They made some big plays, great sides do that to you.”
While Pyke lamented on what might have been.
“Sometimes when you lose by under a goal, it’s a bit like the old saying, sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield, tonight we ended up being the bug,” Pyke said.
While there could only be a one winner on the field, off the field South Australian football proved once again, we have the greatest rivalry in the game.