Port Adelaide fans line up outside Adelaide Oval for preliminary final, but get stuck due to ticketing problem
Port Adelaide fans flooded into Adelaide Oval for the preliminary final on Friday night, after a ticketing hiccup kept some of them outside just before the match started.
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As Port Adelaide diehard Nat Edgecomb and her son Hamish entered Adelaide Oval on Friday night she believed destiny was on the Power’s side.
“I think with everything players have gone through this year a grand final win will be so much sweeter,” the Hope Valley resident, 37, said. “And being the club’s 150th year, it’s meant to be, isn’t it?”
When Charlie Dixon marked and kicked the Power ahead early in the fourth quarter in their do-or-die preliminary final clash with Richmond it seemed destiny – and a second grand final trophy – might be calling.
The chant of “Power” echoed around the oval and scarfs were twirled energetically.
But instead the finals-hardened Tigers held steady, breaking Port hearts by six points in a nailbiter in front of 27,000.
The result ended the minor premiers’ season and brought back memories of the club’s agonising preliminary final loss to Hawthorn in 2014.
The day started with optimism and anxiousness as a bumper crowd had gathered under leaden skies for what many had predicted would be a brutal elimination contest.
Such was the excitement and anticipation ahead of the match that the “Power” chant started well in advance of the first bounce.
Power supporter Craig Martin, 45, who accompanied his daughter Grace, 14 said last night’s loss was “like 2014 all over again”.
“We had our opportunities but we didn’t take them, and we didn't’ get too much help from the guys in white,” he said.
“I’m proud of the boys but the reality is if you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”
In the Fos Williams and Gavin Wanganeen stands, the Port crowd stood as one and held their scarfs aloft to belt out a spine-tingling rendition of their game-day anthem – Never Tear Us Apart.
Neither did the rain dent the resolve of those dotted in their cordoned-off pods on the Hill: they simply put on their rain jackets and just kept standing.
A ticketing problem briefly prevented Port Adelaide fans from entering Adelaide Oval just minutes away from first bounce of the Power’s crucial preliminary final against Richmond.
Fans reported they were unable to enter the stadium due to issues with ticket provider Ticketek.
They were trying to join a sellout crowd gathering under leaden skies for what fans have predicted will be a brutal and hard-fought battle between Port Adelaide Power and defending AFL champions the Richmond Tigers.
Constance, who declined to provide her surname, said her husband and friends had been stuck outside the gates and she was unable to print the tickets from their home computer.
The first big roar of the night came when Power captain Tom Jonas won the toss. The Power supporters hurled boos whenever Richmond’s controversial forward Tom Lynch got near the ball.
But in the end it was Lynch and travelling fans like supporter Paul Clarke, 51, and son Cooper, 13, who were left smiling.
For the Clarkes, who had driven from Sydney, it was their first live match of the season.
“We were never going to miss it,” he said.
One-eyed Power supporter Premier Steven Marshall said while the the result was disappointing he was proud of what the club had achieved.
“Now all South Australian footy supporters...can look forward to 2021,” he said.
Originally published as Port Adelaide fans line up outside Adelaide Oval for preliminary final, but get stuck due to ticketing problem