Norwood has survived a scare from Adelaide to claim a 21-point victory in SANFL battle

NORWOOD grabbed its second win of the season, but not before being forced to overcome a lack-lustre performance and a gritty Adelaide at The Parade.

Adelaide's Ben Davis tackled by Mac Bower. Picture: Matt Loxton/(AAP

NORWOOD overcame a sloppy performance to survive a scare from winless Adelaide at The Parade last night.

The Redlegs led by just four points early in the final quarter before bagging five unanswered goals to secure a 21-point victory.

The two sides have struggled in the early rounds this season and the standard of the action in the first half mirrored their form.

Missed targets with hand and foot, dropped marks, poor tackling and woeful kicking for goal, it was an appalling first two quarters.

Both teams contributed to the ugly spectacle as they coughed up mistake after mistake after mistake.

The handball-happy Redlegs kept bombarding their attacking zone, only to continually waste prime scoring chances.

A highlight for the home side was debutant Cole Gerloff’s goal late in the quarter to put the Redlegs eight points up.

The one constant was the poor decision making and turnovers. Even the only goal for the second quarter, courtesy of Redlegs forward Luke Surman, followed a bundle of skill errors and clumsy play.

The Redlegs had 76 more possessions for the first half and nine more visits inside their 50. They also had 4.15 on the scoreboard.

There was a definite lift in standard in the third quarter as players started to find teammates with improved skills.

The Redlegs escaped to a 19-point advantage before the Crows, showing plenty of fight and an increased influence from the likes of Curtly Hampton and Jackson Edwards, ate into the deficit to trail by just four.

“It was ugly as, ugly as,” Redlegs coach Jarrod Cotton said. “Our effort and intent early in the game was excellent and some of our ball movement was really good.

“But it was like a force field in front of goal and we just could not kick straight, that is still poor football.

“I was happy how we went about it early, but the third and four quarters was inconsistent in many ways.”