Crows demolish flat Demons

Adelaide   129 defeated Melbourne   44

Adelaide has booked a berth in their fourth pre-season Grand Final after destroying a lacklustre Demons outfit to the tune of 85 points.

The Crows led from the outset and, aside from a brief Demon challenge in the second term, held sway for most of the night. Midfield utility Brett Burton was a shining light for Adelaide with four goals, with the experienced duo of Andrew McLeod and Scott Thompson were in sparkling touch.

Melbourne endured a dirty night, scoring a mere five goals for the night and a dismal three points for the entire second half. Only defender Nathan Carroll and veteran midfield pair Adam Yze and Travis Johnstone were able to walk off with their heads held high, their side humbled by the whopping margin of 85 points – barely raising a yelp after quarter time.

The home side burst from the blocks, scoring the first two goals of the contest in the opening few minutes – with exciting forward Luke Jericho capitalising on some clever midfield work, marking and goaling from the first centre clearance for the evening. Led by the good work of their stand in skipper Tyson Edwards, the Crows added another through the dangerous Burton – the team now appearing in ominous touch.

The Demons staged an early challenge, with ruckman-cum-forward Paul Johnson marking and goaling from close range. The former Eagle followed up with another major from the same position only minutes later – this time via a free arising from a ruck contest.

Not to be outdone, Adelaide virtually ended the night there and then – with goals to a rampant Burton and Thompson again stretching the lead. Superstar midfielder Andrew McLeod added his own contribution to the scorecard, dobbing a major from just inside fifty.

When jack-in-the-box Demon Russell Robertson marked and goaled from 10 meters out, it seemed that his side may have weathered the early onslaught. Little did coach Neale Daniher know that there would only be two more to come – Biglands ending the term on a high for the Crows, charging to a 21 point buffer at the first break.

The Crows began the initial stages of the second stanza as they did the previous term, with Burton continuing his blistering form – McLeod adding some magic of his own, sliding home the first super-goal for the night.

Melbourne made a brief challenge to the Crows title in a five minute burst midway through the quarter, a much needed super-goal off the boot of Travis Johnstone coupled with majors from youngsters Nathan Jones and Chris Johnson reducing the margin to a reasonable 17 points.

It was Adelaide who rounded out the quarter the stronger, however, their highflying Jericho reaching for the skies and cleaning up his own mistakes, extending his sides lead to a safe four goals at the long break.

Following the half time interval, the match was reduced to exhibition status – a procession for the Adelaide Crows who slammed on an impressive 8 goals 16 to the Demons three behinds. The likes of Perrie, Biglands, Burton and Thompson revelled in the opportunity to run ahead of the ball, showing their lowly Melbourne opponents a clean pair of heels.

The dull third term continued into the last, the Crows running out comprehensive victors by 85 points. The run produced by the Adelaide midfield was impressive, with the youth of Chris Knights and Nathan Van Berlo showing their wears in front of coach Neil Craig, who cast a watchful eye over several players vying for the final places in his team to take on Collingwood in round one.

Melbourne will return to their home state battered and bruised, their side in need of a quick boost with the dawn of a new season only three weeks away.

The Crows will now face the winner of the Geelong-Fremantle clash at Telstra Dome tomorrow night to decide the overall winner of the 2006 NAB Cup, while the Demons will spread the football gospel around the nation’s NAB Challenge Cup circuit.

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