A SECOND and third-quarter goal blitz from the Adelaide Crows has seen North Melbourne tumble to a disappointing 33-point defeat tonight at AAMI Stadium.
Sparked by outstanding performances from Jason Porplyzia and Brett Burton, the Crows won 15.17 (107) to 11.8 (74) in front of a delirious crowd of 41,898, who were celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Crows’ 1998 premiership win over the Kangaroos.
Returning to the site of last year’s preliminary final humiliation, but facing a different foe, North were simply not in the game from half way through the second quarter, when the Crows went on a 45-minute, 12-goal-to-one rampage.
Six last quarter goals from the Kangaroos made the scoreboard look more respectable than it otherwise would have.
The Crows’ win was built around an exciting new forward structure featuring Burton (three goals), Porplyzia (four goals, all in an astonishing 11-possession third term), Kurt Tippett (two goals) and captain Simon Goodwin (three).
For North Melbourne, evergreen captain Adam Simpson (31 possessions) and Brent Harvey (24 possessions, two goals) battled hard, but winners were hard to find.
North have now lost their last seven matches against Adelaide, and not beaten the Crows at AAMI Stadium since 2003, but will remain in the eight at the Hall of Fame break.
The first quarter saw North Melbourne start well, closing down Adelaide’s midfield, chocking their backline run, and – importantly – keeping the crowd out of the game.
It took 13 minutes for the first goal to come, and it came to North from a fine one-on-one mark to Grant over Kris Massie. A second soon after to a swooping Harding saw the visitors out to a 10-point lead.
From that point the Crows started asserting themselves. Midfielders Scott Thompson and Chris Knights started getting their hands on the ball, while Kurt Tippett posed a dangerous forward target. He booted the Crows’ only goal for the quarter as Adelaide kicked a wasteful 1.8 for the term to keep the Kangaroos well in touch.
An early goal to Harding in the second term saw North start brightly again, but from half way through the quarter the Crows put their foot down.
Goals to Tyson Edwards, Richard Douglas and the omnipresent Burton in the space of six minutes saw the home side take control, and when late inclusion Jarrhan Jacky kicked his first AFL goal late in the term, the Crows had raced to a 20-point lead at the long break.
Unfortunately for North the third quarter started much the same way. A three-goal-in-three-minutes blitz from the Crows – two to Porplyzia and one to Burton, roving another Tippett crumb – saw the margin blow out to 37 points.
When Tippett and Goodwin added two more the Crows were out by eight goals half way through the term and cruising.
North was having its pants pulled down – and to add insult to injury the Roos’ predicament became literal when Harding was “dacked” by Andrew McLeod in a tackle which sent the crowd into further delirium.
The margin blew out to 66 points early in the last term, but North gained some consolation with the last six goals of the game to reduce the margin to something approaching respectability.
North Melbourne will now host the battling West Coast Eagles on the Gold Coast after the break for the Hall of Fame Tribute Match.
It will be the first match for the Kangaroos on the Gold Coast since the club rejected an AFL package to relocate to Queensland back in December.
ADELAIDE 1. 8 6. 11 14. 11 15. 17 (107)
NORTH MELBOURNE 2. 2 4. 3 5. 6 11. 8 (74)
Goals
Adelaide: Jason Porplyzia 4, Brett Burton 3, Simon Goodwin 3, Kurt Tippett 2, Tyson Edwards, Richard Douglas, Jarrhan Jacky
North Melbourne: Leigh Harding 2, Brent Harvey 2, Shannon Grant 2, Nathan Thompson 2, Lindsay Thomas, Daniel Wells, Corey Jones
Best
Injuries
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Chamberlain, Schmitt and Jeffrey
