Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
West Coast’s first-quarter woes have haunted them once again.
Adelaide pounced on the slow start and the Eagles’ comeback fell short in a 25-point defeat at Optus Stadium on Friday night.
For the 13th time this season, Andrew McQualter’s side was behind at the first break, and they never caught up despite matching it with last year’s minor premiers from there on out in the 15.9 (99) to 11.8 (74) defeat.
The Eagles rediscovered their trademark pressure, which had been the base of their best form in years before the bye, to challenge the Crows for the final three quarters, which will restore some of the faith lost after the loss to Carlton.
But after they conceded the first four goals of the match, the Eagles were always behind the eight-ball and an experienced team like Adelaide simply did enough to get the four points.
The Crows’ dominance started in the middle of the ground, where skipper Jordan Dawson was herculean, racking up 27 disposals, six clearances, nine inside 50s, eight tackles and a goal with no Eagle able to go with him.
Izak Rankine (27 touches, seven clearances and a goal) provided the complementary outside class to Dawson’s grunt work, while ruckman Lachlan McAndrew (38 hit-outs) fed them with class tap work.
And up forward Darcy Fogarty continued his rich vein of form with four first-half goals after the late withdrawal of Riley Thilthorpe with illness.
Most impressively for Adelaide was the even contribution across the ground.
They smashed the Eagles at the centre clearances (18-8), while Adelaide were on top in hit-outs (49-27) and thus the inside 50s (56-45) for most of the night until West Coast surged in the final quarter.
Eagles’ debutant Oli Francou showed he belonged at the level with 18 disposals and nine tackles, while superstar Harley Reid grinded his way into the game to end up their best with 23 touches, six inside 50s and six clearances.
Spearhead Jake Waterman (three goals) displayed signs he may have finally overcome his set-shot yips, while Jobe Shanahan continued to impress with three goals.
But the fact Francou, who had been only at the club for a few weeks, was amongst their best was a blight on several experienced players.
Too many Eagles were well below their best. Veteran Elliot Yeo spent a lot of time forward and had only seven touches, while Jack Graham (12 touches) was far from in top form in his second game back from a long-term shoulder injury.
It started horribly for the Eagles when the Crows kicked a goal after only 19 seconds, with Jake Soligo (two goals) slotting a beautiful running shot.
Within the blink of an eye, Adelaide had kicked out to a 24-point lead on the back of their dominance at the clearances and in the contest.
The worst of it was the rookie errors for West Coast, with missed tackles and a failure to spread from the contest led them to chasing the visitors who seemingly had all the space in the world to work with.
Desperate to stop the bleeding, McQualter sent Shanahan behind the ball after only 10 minutes, but it left Waterman one out with multiple defenders in the contest.
West Coast finally hit back through Jack Williams, who earned a free kick from a forward 50 ruck contest to slot their opening goal of the game.
Adelaide hit back seconds later when James Peatling stormed out of the centre to hit up Fogarty deep in attack, with the Crow kicking his third goal in the opening term.
West Australian Dan Curtin added a sixth for Adelaide on the verge of quarter time, and the margin was 29 points.
It got worse after the break as Adelaide nearly walked the ball out of the middle to kick another pair of quick majors to all but put the result beyond doubt.
West Coast managed to get the game on level pegging, but they didn’t have a counterpunch that could rock the Crows despite their best efforts.
However, there was a sense that at half-time the Crows were simply playing with their food and could’ve been a lot further ahead if not for some wasteful ball use.
There were signs of life for West Coast when Jack Hutchinson chased down Dawson to start the third term, with the home side showing a clear intent to get in the face of Adelaide.
But their issues at the clearances still weren’t rectified, and the Crows used it as an out to keep the distance on the Eagles every time they looked to challenge.
When Bo Allan kicked the first goal of the last term to finally break there was a glimmer of hope for the Eagles, with the fans spurring them on.
Waterman’s third goal soon after only added to the momentum, and for the first time on the night, Adelaide were the side on the back foot.
Dawson sent himself down back and proved impenetrable, halting the Eagles’ momentum with several crucial marks and possessions to calm his nervous side.
Ben Keays then sucked the life out of the rampant supporters with a big goal against the tide of play to give the Crows some valuable breathing space.
Tom Cole hit back with another goal after Waterman beat two Adelaide defenders to set him up, but there was still a lot of work to be done.
Keays’ third was the nail in the coffin, ending the Eagles’ hopes of a miraculous comeback and ensuring Adelaide would keep their top four hopes alive.
SCOREBOARD
ADELAIDE 6.2, 9.5, 13.8, 15.9 (99)
WEST COAST 1.3, 4.5, 8.8, 11.8 (74)
Goals – ADELAIDE: D Fogarty 4 B Keays 3 J Soligo 2 D Curtin J Dawson T Murray A Neal-Bullen J Rachele I Rankine. WEST COAST: J Waterman 3 J Shanahan 3 B Allan T Cole W Duursma B Starcevich J Williams.
Best – ADELAIDE: J Dawson I Rankine L McAndrew R Laird D Fogarty J Peatling. WEST COAST: H Reid T Young O Francou B Allan J Waterman B Williams.
Injuries – ADELAIDE: R Thilthorpe (illness) replaced in the selected side by B Dowling.
Umpires: N Foot H Meyer J Mollison M Rodger. Crowd: 40,770 at Optus Stadium.
