Adelaide Crows blow 33-point lead in upset loss to West Coast Eagles

Of course it was West Coast. If any team in the competition could come from 33 points down in the third quarter to beat the Crows at Adelaide Oval it was the Eagles. Reece Homfray looks at how the Crows let one get away.

Adelaide let one slip against the Eagles. Picture: Sarah Reed

Of course it was West Coast. If any team in the competition could come from 33 points down in the third quarter to beat the Crows at Adelaide Oval it was the Eagles.

And on Saturday night they produced another great heist to take their record at the ground to a stunning 8-2.

A Chayce Jones behind levelled scores 28 minutes into the final quarter before goals to Oscar Allen and Jack Darling sealed victory for the visitors.

If Luke Shuey is not the most clutch player in the competition he would be in the top three. His clearances led to both Allen and Darling’s game-winning goals and his love affair with Adelaide Oval continued after he kicked that memorable after-the-siren goal to win a final here two years ago.

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He was enormous with 33 disposals while Elliot Yeo and Jack Redden both laid 15 tackles each.

The Crows will be kicking themselves. Not just because they let a 33-point lead slip but had their chances late in the game through Lachlan Murphy and Jones and as difficult as they were, they narrowly missed and were made to pay.

Adelaide players leave the ground after their loss to West Coast. Picture: AAP Images

RESILIENCE TEST

The tide turned in an instant in the third quarter and the Crows failed the resilience test. They were in complete control of the game after a dominant second quarter when West Coast kicked three goals in three minutes to cut the lead from 33 to 15 points.

Things changed dramatically when Jamie Cripps kicked straight from 20m out and the margin was down to eight.

The Eagles won contested ball 45-33, clearances 15-11 and out-scored the Crows five goals to two on the back of ruckman Nathan Vardy’s influence in the middle and Andrew Gaff’s workrate all over the ground.

Jack Redden and Luke Shuey then got busy to open the last quarter and coast-to-coast ball movement courtesy of marks to Jeremy McGovern, Darling and Josh Kennedy put them in front entering time-on.

Josh Kennedy celebrates a crucial goal for the Eagles. Picture: Sarah Reed

RISING TO THE OCCASION

The last thing Don Pyke did before making his way to the coaches box on Saturday afternoon was to walk past two of Adelaide’s three indigenous players Eddie Betts and Wayne Milera.

With one hand he offered a high-five, the other a pat on the back, then he sat back watched them along with Cameron Ellis-Yolmen go to work.

Ellis-Yolmen kicked the first goal of the game with a clever snap when he created space around a stoppage inside 50m and was swamped by teammates. It was as if he brought his own ball to the game as he won repeat clearances and looked composed to find teammates in space on both feet.

Mid-way through the second quarter Adelaide needed a spark and it came from an unlikely forward threat as Wayne Milera went inside 50m.

He had two moments of brilliance on the lead and should have kicked two goals from the pocket had one of them not been over-ruled by a free kick against Taylor Walker.

But the second came minutes later when Eddie Betts was in a foot race with Brad Shepherd for a loose ball tumbling towards goal. Betts trapped the footy, danced around three opponents and handballed to Milera who kicked the goal from mid-air on the line.

Eddie’s moment arrived six minutes into the third term when his pressure again overwhelmed the Eagles defence and he kicked a goal off the ground to put the Crows 33 points up.

Ellis-Yolmen was Adelaide’s best while Milera’s third goal put the Crows back in front albeit briefly in the last term.

SELECTION PRESSURE

With competition for spots heating up at Adelaide all eyes in particular were on Reilly O’Brien and Elliott Himmelberg with Sam Jacobs and Josh Jenkins pushing their claims for a return in the next two weeks.

Reilly O’Brien looked like having a ‘nearly day’ early when he did everything but mark two high balls and almost kicked a goal. But he started clunking them after that and led hard to give the Crows an option in the second half. He had more of the ball than Nathan Vardy but Vardy’s tap work helped West Coast take control in the midfield in the third term.

Himmelberg had Jeremy McGovern for company and had just one kick in the first quarter and McGovern out-marked him too easily in the second half.

Jenkins might have had the weekend off with no SANFL game but expect him to be looked at very closely this week.

Eddie Betts celebrates a goal with Rory Sloane. Picture Sarah Reed

THE MISSING LYNCH

Adelaide pushed numbers back behind the ball in the first term but that caused a problem when they won possession because they were out-numbered on the wing or through the middle of the ground. It highlighted how much they missed Tom Lynch the same way Jamie Cripps was pushing up to present for the Eagles.

That led to repeat forward entries for the visitors who doubled the Crows with 18-9 inside 50s in the opening term. Things changed after that with Milera going forward and Brodie Smith and Rory Laird providing genuine run.

DEFENSIVE EFFORT

Adelaide’s defence is yet to concede 100 points this year and although that streak continued, they didn’t get the four points.

For three quarters they did a good job of containing Darling, Kennedy, Rioli and Ryan but the twin talls got going in the last in particular.

Alex Keath, Daniel Talia and Kyle Hartigan all had good moments one-out while Jake Kelly was outstanding all night. But the Eagles big men took marks at crucial moments and importantly kicked straight which really hurt.