Adelaide forward Tom Lynch credits pressure for 15-point win over Geelong to keep season alive
ADELAIDE kept its season alive with a 15-point win over Geelong on Thursday night and forward Tom Lynch says it was down to determination and hard work.
- Rucci: Sloane boosts Crows for run at finals
- Tex in strife for high bump
- Match report: Crows breathe life into season
ADELAIDE forward Tom Lynch has credited Adelaide’s pressure for its impressive 15-point win against Geelong and said Rory Sloane signing a five-year contract on the eve of the match had helped begin the momentum.
The Crows took their record to a break-even eight wins and eight losses and are likely to need to win at least four, or more likely five, of their remaining six matches to gain a spot in September.
But Lynch was confident the form against West Coast and now the Cats — putting aside last week’s loss to Richmond — pointed to an upward curve.
Adelaide beat Geelong despite losing in significant areas such as contested ball, centre clearances and overall clearances.
The Crows made up for it elsewhere.
“It was just the pressure, really,” Lynch said. “For us it was just about the pressure that we were applying on the ball.
“They’ve got some quality minds that we knew were going to be pivotal players in the game but we knew that if we could enough pressure on those guys.”
It had not hurt that some of its most important players — among them Sloane — are back playing at full tilt as the Crows hang on to its final chances.
With that came the emotional boost from Sloane committing to the club.
“Certainly,” Lynch said. “We’ve obviously wanted to play that style of footy for a long time now and we didn’t have the greatest of games last week (against Richmond).
“It was really important that we got back in front of our fans and played some great footy.
“But I’ve got no doubt that the boys sort of rode the wave of the excitement and joy of having such a quality person at our club hang around.
“He’s a great friend of ours.
“First and foremost I think of Rory as a friend rather than a teammate so I was just rapt for him to make a decision that makes him happy.
“And staying around is obviously the best thing for me as well.”
Lynch also credited the club’s pressure for hitting the scoreboard again.
The Crows’ scored more than 100 points for the first time since Round 7 this year and the performance was a reminder of what they served up almost weekly in last year’s run to the grand final.
“It certainly came of our pressure and our ability to turn it over in our forward half,” Lynch said. “The small pressure forwards certainly played a pivotal part.”
Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >