Crows keep finals hopes alive with five-point win over Lions

IT wasn’t easy but the Crows kept their slim finals hopes alive with a five-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba, snapping the in-form Lions’ three-game winning streak.

ADELAIDE has negotiated another section of its tightrope towards the finals against a bitterly stubborn Brisbane at the Gabba.

The Crows’ snapping of the Lions’ three-game winning streak means the window to September remains open but this match tested both their nerves and their mettle.

Tom Doedee and Lachlan Murphy were both crunched and sat out the last quarter after heavy knocks and it was such a high-octane game of hard running that towards the end the two sides were so spent it was like watching the final round in a Rocky movie.

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The Crows had done so much to shake the Lions.

Utility Hugh Greenwood has always looked like he’s enjoyed playing in a forward role and he was outstanding with four goals — taking marks with long arms, keeping calm when everybody around him seemed to be in a huff and reading the ball like he had the best local knowledge in the area.

He could have had a fifth goal in the dying moments but hit a post. It led to extending the tension in the game although in truth, there was not enough time left by then to come back.

Rory Laird played another game from the top drawer. He was in All-Australian form in the backline, withstood a crunching bump from Jake Barrett and went into the midfield to provide some fresher legs in the final quarter.

It resulted in a match-shaping goal as he kept going from contest to contest and cooly slotted it on the run in the 12th minute.

Sam Jacobs of the Crows competes with Stefan Martin of the Lions. Picture: AAP Image/Jono Searle

But the man of the match was again club champion Matt Crouch, who just runs and runs and accumulates. His 40 disposals were even more impressive when you consider how physical he is prepared to be and how much punishment he accepts.

Eddie Betts added to the highlights real with a screamer when he sat on the shoulders of Cedric Cox on the edge of the square but it was a funny match; for every good move the Crows had the Lions came up with a counterpunch.

Much had been made of the Lions in the lead-up to the match as Brisbane moved to a three-game winning streak for the first time in five years; former greats such as Simon Black and Alastair Lynch praised the side and the sentiments were that this was exciting as the Lions had been for a decade.

To add to the occasion it was the 500th game for the Lions since the Fitzroy-Bears merger.

Fireworks preceded the match on the ground; the Lions exciting young talent followed it up after the siren.

Jarrod Barry opened the Lions’ scoring with a snap and last year’s No. 1 draft pick Cam Rayner kicked the club’s second after a top mark.

Marking was a feature with Josh Walker and Rayner both submitting applications for goal of the year in one attacking foray in the first quarter — they will be heavily featured marks on the television football shows in the coming week.

But the Crows had come prepared and had just as much of it, even though they didn’t make the most of their chances in the early stages.

Wayne Milera and the two Rorys — Laird and Sloane — moved from contest to contest and made it look like the Crows could turn it on any minute.

Adelaide’s Eddie Betts leads teammates off the ground on Saturday night. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Experienced hands such as Josh Jenkins, Sloane — despite being outstanding around the ground — and Eddie Betts missed goals you’d normally back them to get and Adelaide didn’t cash in on its advantage in scoring shots and inside-50s.

Greenwood was an exception with three of the Crows first five goals and it was the groundwork for the Crows asserting themselves with four straight goals late in the second quarter to both look in control of the game and have Brisbane hesitating for the first time in weeks.

Both proved something tonight. Brisbane that they can match it with every team in the competition and that the Lions finally have their house in order with the younger players contributing more than expected at this stage.

Adelaide that it can find a way to win even when so much is stacked against it: the captain missing, two players injured on the bench, fatigue setting in and a home side urged on by a loud crowd coming at them.

The ladder would suggest this was just another match between two of the sides outside of the top eight. It was one of the best for the season.

SCOREBOARD

BRISBANE 4.1 8.2 9.7 13.10 (88)

ADELAIDE 3.4 9.7 12.11 13.15 (93)

GOALS

Brisbane: Berry 2, McInerney 2, McStay 2, Rayner 2, Barrett, Christensen, Hipwood, Taylor Zorko

Adelaide: Greenwood 4, Jenkins 2, Knight 2, Betts, Gallucci, Gibbs, Laird, Seedsman

BEST

Adelaide: Crouch, Laird, Greenwood, Lynch, Talia, Milera

Brisbane: Witherden, Gardiner, Beams, Zorko, Cutler

INJURIES

Adelaide: Murphy (nose), Doedee (concussion)

Umpires: Schmitt, Whetton, Mitchell

Crowd: 20,475 at the Gabba