Injury to Brad Crouch’s foot sours Crows’ first SANFL win over Port Adelaide

BRAD Crouch's AFL season is in jeopardy after the ace Crows midfielder on Sunday re-injured the foot which has ruined his 2015 campaign.

28/06/15 - SANFL match between Port and Crows at Alberton Oval. The AFL Crow's coach Phil Walsh (2nd R), listening intently at three Quarter time. Picture Dean Martin

BRAD Crouch's AFL season is in jeopardy after the ace Crows midfielder on Sunday re-injured the foot which has ruined his 2015 campaign.

Crouch, who Adelaide coach Phil Walsh had earmarked to replace injured star Rory Sloane (fractured cheekbone) in his AFL team, lasted just 13 minutes of the SANFL clash against the Port Adelaide Magpies before limping from Alberton Oval in pain.

His latest setback - in just his second game of the season after breaking his left foot against the Power in the final NAB Challenge pre-season match in March - spoiled the Crows' breakthrough 20-point win against the Magpies.

It was Adelaide's first SANFL win against the Pies after losing the three previous encounters between the teams by an average of 44 points.

Crouch, who suffered more foot soreness two weeks ago before being cleared to play again after a strong comeback performance in the SANFL against Sturt in round nine, said he heard a crack in his foot after just three minutes of Sunday's match.

He tried to play through the pain before succumbing to the injury and failing to return.

Crouch was on crutches after the game and will have scans today to determine how serious the injury is.

He said the soreness appeared to be in a different area of his foot than the fracture he had surgically repaired in March.

The injury would have disappointed Walsh, who was at the ground to watch players “auditioning” for places in next week’s team to play Geelong.

Crows SANFL coach Heath Younie said he didn't want to speculate on the injury, preferring to wait for the results of scans to determine how long Crouch will be sidelined.

"I'm not too sure about the extent of the injury and I'm really reluctant to speculate on it,'' Younie said.

"He had some soreness in that foot again and he'll be assessed (today) by our doctors and they'll make a call on it then.''

While the Crouch injury is a bad blow for Adelaide, it was a history making day for the club which broke its drought against the Magpies.

The Crows led from the moment Riley Knight kicked their first goal after four minutes and held off several Port comebacks before kicking away in the final term.

"It was our first (SANFL) Showdown win, which was nice,'' Younie said.

"We were a comrade (Crouch) down early and we showed great spirit. It was a terrific team effort and a real reward for effort.''

Adelaide - fielding a season-high 16 AFL-listed players to the Magpies' 17 - had 53 fewer disposals but controlled clearances 39-27, which led to a 57-44 domination of inside 50s.

Midfielder Jarryd Lyons put his hand up to take Sloane's spot with 29 disposals and 11 clearances while Brodie Martin, Ricky Henderson, James Podsiadly (three goals) and Rory Atkins were strong performers.

Port coach Garry Hocking was bitterly disappointed with his side's poor performance, saying his men "did not come to play'' and turned the ball over far too much.

"We don't give up inside 50s that easily and some of those 57 came off poor errors,'' he said.

"We've got to be better than that.''