Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Adelaide’s top-four hopes were bolstered, but the same can’t be said for their legitimacy as a genuine premiership contender after being forced to claw out a gritty if unconvincing nine-point win over Richmond.
The Crows had everything to play for – and everything to lose, with seventh position and the murkiness of wildcard territory the ‘prize’ for defeat.
But the 17th-ranked Tigers, coming off a gritty win over West Coast, made the short-priced favourites sweat. And sweat some more.
Richmond coach Adem Yze won’t sugarcoat the reasons his side missed the chance to cause an epic upset against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval tonight.
A disappointed Yze said his players, especially some of their leaders, had to own the skill errors and lack of execution which led to the Crows holding on despite Richmond having field position and opportunities in the last term when the game was on the line.
“Really disappointed. We gave ourselves a chance to win a game on the road in a hostile environment and we let ourselves down with skill errors,” Yze said.
“I can’t fault our spirit, grit, fight and we played the right way but we didn’t execute well enough or gave up 50m penalties and free kicks at the end.
Richmond great Jack Riewoldt has claimed his Tigers should be the preferred destination for Port Adelaide free agent Zak Butters.
While Butters has been repeatedly connected with the Western Bulldogs or others, Riewoldt said the young Tigers could give Butters the longest premiership window.
“I don’t think he will be looking at where can I win a flag next year, he will be looking at where can I win one in the next five years. Richmond might be that club,” Riewoldt said on Kayo Sports.
“I think Richmond are massively in the hunt, especially after tonight.”
Izak Rankine has put on a match-winning performance to get the Crows over the line tonight and he also broke one of Mark Ricciuto’s record in the process.
Rankine had 37 disposals, 12 clearances and a goal while also posting a record 231 rankings point beating a record previously held by Ricciuto according to Kayo Sports.
“Sorry Roo,” Rankine told Kayo Sports post game.
“I didn’t know I’d done that.”
The Crows have hung on by their fingernails to beat Richmond at the Adelaide Oval tonight.
It could be a huge win in terms of their finals spot as a loss may well have forced them out of the six and into the wildcard slots.
Izak Rankine, Jordan Dawson and Callum Ah Chee came up huge for the Crows – their quality was the difference in the second half.
“They will take the win by they were far from impressive,” Crows great Mark Ricciuto said on Kayo Sports.
Sam Lalor appeared to hurt his foot or ankle late in the match but continued playing, hopefully it isn’t an ongoing issue for him.
The Tigers tried to push the ball through the corridor, but they only managed to find Zac Taylor, 45m from goal.
He went back and kicked truly to extend this lead to 10 points.
Tigers need to do a lot from here.
Crows 63, Tigers 53 with three mins to go.
The Crows lead by five points with five minutes to play.
This wet, soggy game is going down to the wire.
Richmond were unlucky not to get a holding the ball decision, 40m from goal.
They are trying to force something.
Crows 57, Tigers 52 with five mins to go.
Sam Lalor took a strong mark deep in the forward line but his shot from the angle missed and went for a behind.
The Tigers won’t get many chances better than that.
Crows 56, Tigers 52 with 11 mins to go.
