Returning Adelaide veteran Eddie Betts a key factor in tough win over St Kilda at home
Eddie Betts returned to the Crows AFL side with a spring in his step and provided three vital goals and the forward pressure Adelaide has lacked. Plus; recap with quarter-by-quarter updates.
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- Match report: Finally, Crows find something to love
He was the sacrificial lamb for Adelaide’s lack of forward pressure last week.
But last night at Adelaide Oval Eddie Betts was one of the poster boys for the Crows increased pressure in their forward 50.
The much loved Crow admitted that he felt flat after Don Pyke told him that he would be dropped to the SANFL, in what proved to be an unsuccessful attempt to halt what had been a worrying slide for Adelaide in recent weeks.
Part of 825 games of AFL experience coming into the Crows side for the clash against St Kilda, as Pyke opted to go with experience and Darcy Fogarty to stop the rot, Betts played like a man with a point to prove.
The moments of magic that Crows fans have come to expect from Betts since he made the move from Carlton were there, but the energy and pressure looked to have been turned up another notch by the Adelaide star who helped make it a tough night for St Kilda’s defenders.
The stat sheets say Betts finished with two tackles, both made in the fourth quarter, but his impact against off the ball the Saints was far greater than that.
He harassed and hounded the St Kilda defenders, winning his first goal by hunting the ball and skipping over a prone Jake Carlisle to finish with a fine left footed snap.
And he showed great courage as well, taking a beautiful and brave mark with his back to the flight of the ball and about to crash into a pack of Saints but somehow emerging with the ball in his hands.
After weeks of their forward pressure coming under criticism, and being well beaten by other sides when it comes to the tackle count, at Adelaide Oval it was the turn of the Crows to make their mark on that part of the stat sheet.
With Betts’ increased energy and pressure, the Crows ended up with 17 inside 50 tackles to the Saints six.
Co-captain Taylor Walker was another to show a much-needed lift in intensity, finishing with four goals to suggest he is playing himself back into the form the Crows know he can produce.
His second of the game owed much to the star man who was returning to the side, as Betts hounded two Saints players into the point of submission and left Walker to just kick it from centimetres out in a goal that shouldn’t have happened.
After calling for his inclusion for much of the season Crows fans got their first glimpse of Fogarty in 2019 and while there were moments when he was quiet there were numerous that showed his potential.
He had the Crows crowd erupting with a long bomb from outside 50 to help quell a fourth-quarter Saints comeback, and Crows fans will be hoping he gets the chance to stick around.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER UPDATES
FIRST QUARTER
Crows 4.1 (25)
Saints 3.2 (20)
AFTER copping from all angles during the week the Crows came out with red-hot intent in the opening exchanges at Adelaide Oval.
The forward pressure that has been missing in so much of their play of late was ramped up as the Crows forwards hunted Saints.
Against his old side Tom Lynch got the ball rolling and then the returning Eddie Betts doubled the Crows tally, which came from a fine Matt Crouch tackle in the centre wing.
St Kilda have been on a high of late and rode out the waves to dominate centre clearances and the game, levelling scores through two kick goals to Tim Membrey and Nick Hinds, but a 50m penalty to Crouch helped the Crows get their lead back and Betts’ second rammed that home.
But the Saints came again, Ben Long kicked a fine goal and Josh Bruce missed an opportunity to level the scores just before the siren.
SECOND QUARTER
Crows 6.4 (40)
Saints 5.5 (35)
STILL sporting a fair bit of strapping on the elbow he hurt against Essendon, Crows co-skipper Taylor Walker was looking dangerous for the Crows.
He kicked the first of the quarter just before the five minute mark, and then after some great work by Betts in hounding two Saints players near goal Walker just had to kick straight for his second of the game.
Jack Lonie replied for the Saints, who continued to swarm forward with little reward, and then a free kick against Kyle Hartigan gave Membrey his second goal and pulled St Kilda back to within four.
THIRD QUARTER
Crows 10.7 (67)
Saints 7.7 (49)
WALKER continued to bully the Saints defence, kicking two early third quarter goals to get Adelaide’s lead back to 18.
The Crows looked like they would take a stranglehold of the game, but St Kilda again wouldn’t go away and Jade Gresham and Membrey’s third reduced the margin to just five.
But a fine move from the Crows defensive 50 to their offensive one set up Betts for a chance at his third and he duly obligied to give Adelaide some breathing space and Matt Crouch’s first of the game with just under a minute to go made got them again up to a 18-point lead.
FOURTH QUARTER
Crows 14.8 (92)
Saints 10.10 (70)
THE Saints needed an early one to get their way back into the match and Seb Ross gave them just that after just two minutes of play.
Returning to the side Richard Douglas replied for the Crows quickly after the Saints gave away a 50m penalty.
Bruce’s first of the game again made things nervy for the Crows, but Darcy Fogarty’s long bomb and a brave effort from Brodie Smith saw the Saints comeback off and gave Adelaide a pressure-busting win.
ADELAIDE V ST KILDA
Saturday August 3, 7.10pm at Adelaide Oval
Weather:
TV: Fox Sports 503, Channel 7 (live)
Radio: FIVEaa, TripleM, ABC891
Live stream: Kayosports.com.au
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CROWS
B: Kelly, Talia, Brown
HB: Mackay, Hartigan, Laird
C: Sloane, B. Crouch, Atkins
HF: Douglas, Lynch, Knight
F: Murphy, Walker, Betts
FOLL: O’Brien, M. Crouch, Gibbs
I/C: Otten, Milera, Fogarty, Smith
EMG: Greenwood, Seedsman, Stengle, Jacobs
IN: Douglas, Betts, Gibbs, Fogarty
OUT: Wilson, Seedsman, Jenkins, Stengle (all omitted)
SAINTS
B: Savage, Brown, McKenzie
HB: Wilkie, Carlisle, Clark
C: Billings, Ross, Langlands
HF: Hind, Bruce, Steele
F: Lonie, Membrey, Battle
FOLL: Marshall, Dunstan, Gresham
I/C: Coffield, Parker, Long, Sinclair
EMG: Joyce, Marsh, White, Rice
IN: Battle, McKenzie, Parker
OUT: Acres (injured), Newnes (illness), Paton (illness)