Eddie Betts inspired Adelaide to big elimination final win over North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval

ADELAIDE showcased its awesome firepower, booting 21 goals — including six to Eddie Betts — to blow North Melbourne out of the water and send a warning to the remaining finalists.

Eddie Betts starred in Adelaide’s win over North Melbourne. Picture: Michael Klein

THAT’S how you win a final, at home, when you’re the hunted and you refuse to be intimidated by the physical challenge or the big stage.

Adelaide did what West Coast and Sydney could not last night by standing up to expectation and finals intensity to win a home elimination final against North Melbourne by a thumping 62 points.

The Crows were the only team from the opening week of the finals to crack the 100-point barrier with 20 goals, in a reminder of their awesome scoring power.

They made the most of their dominant record at Adelaide Oval to book a date with Sydney in next weekend’s semi-final where the question will be whether they can do it again away from home.

An eight-goal third quarter shut the gate on North Melbourne’s season and possibly on games record holder Brent Harvey’s 432-game career. In a mark of respect Adelaide formed a guard of honour for North’s departing stars Harvey, Nick Dal Santo, Drew Petrie and Michael Firrito after the match.

But the night belonged to the Crows.

Tempers flared early in the game.

The ‘Eddieee’ chant went up in the first quarter and Betts delivered with six goals while the backline dominated and Brodie Smith played a blinder. Smith’s two 55m goals in the final quarter capped arguably a career-best performance.

Betts was the star though and his sixth goal was simply freakish when he was on the ground, stood up and out-marked two opponents in the square in the final quarter.

In an at times spiteful game, the Crows refused to be unsettled.

They stood up when Firrito cleaned up Charlie Cameron after his opening goal, when Drew Petrie put an elbow into Daniel Talia on the bottom of a pack and when Harvey made contact with Rory Sloane.

The Crows will however sweat on how the match review panel sees Kyle Hartigan’s report by field umpire Chris Kamolins for tripping Lindsay Thomas in the second quarter.

It was the only sour note on Adelaide’s night when Hartigan and fellow key defender Daniel Talia destroyed their Kangaroo opponents by keeping Petrie and Ben Brown to 0.1 between them.

It took just 35 seconds to know the Crows were switched on when Taylor Walker cleverly tapped the ball to Cameron who kicked the first goal.

Tex played a strong captain’s game with his lead-up work and contested marks in front of goal while Tom Lynch was arguably his side’s best player in the first half and finished with four goals.

The Kangaroos’ midfield led by Ben Cunnington and Jack Ziebell was on top in the first quarter but the Crows put it on the scoreboard.

A beautiful chain of handballs from Sloane to Brad Crouch to Scott Thompson ended with Lynch who kicked his second goal in the second quarter but again the Kangaroos challenged them.

Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito, Brent Harvey and Nick Dal Santo get a guard of honour.

Walker stood tall inside the first two minutes of the third term with his 300th career goal and from there the Crows absorbed the last of what North Melbourne could throw at them. They produced an eight-goal quarter, led brilliantly by Betts who was everywhere.

With ball magnet Sloane not at his prolific best but still handy, the Crouch brothers stood up and won plenty of the footy and Rory Laird was like an extra midfielder running from defence and David Mackay had a good game on the wing.

ADELAIDE 4.6 6.10 14.11 21.15 (141)

NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 5.4 8.5 12.7 (79)

GOALS

Adelaide: Betts 6, Lynch 4, Smith 2, Jenkins 2, Walker 2, Cameron, Lever, Lyons, M Crouch, Sloane

North Melbourne: Daw 4, Thomas 3, Higgins 2, Goldstein 2, Ziebell

Umpires: Chris Donlon, Scott Jeffery, Chris Kamolins

Official Crowd: 49,007 at Adelaide Oval

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNT — WITH CHRIS McDERMOTT

1. Bad kicking at goal will one day come back to haunt this group. It is a non-negotiable in the game and has been for 150 years. The Crows do so much right, but this is an area of ongoing concern. Thankfully they corrected it after half-time. A wayward 6.10 eventually became a more acceptable 21.15.

2. Much has been said about the Crows’ attack in 2016, but their defence must also get some recognition. Daniel Talia, Kyle Hartigan, Kyle Cheney, Jake Lever, Rory Laird and Luke Brown work brilliantly together. But it gets tougher next week.

3. Pressure is the foundation of the Crows’ game. Their skills are good but it is the pressure they put on opposition that makes the difference — 65 tackles to North’s 43 says it all.

4. The break did the Crows plenty of good. They looked sharp, slick with ball in hand and hungry for the contest. The game was not at the level of the GWS-Sydney game, but it was good enough and they should now be cherry ripe for the job ahead.

5. Eddie. Eddie. Eddie. What more can you say?

Originally published as Eddie Betts inspired Adelaide to big elimination final win over North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval