TWO LAST-quarter goals to returning key forward Riley Thilthorpe has driven Adelaide to a 32-point win over St Kilda in a Saturday night slog.
Thilthorpe started his first game of the season as substitute and didn’t enter the fray until three-quarter time in what looked like a dubious decision considering the conditions, but the big man dominated the forward line, gathering seven disposals as the Crows booted four goals to none in the last term to win 10.11 (71) to 5.9 (39) at a rain-soaked Adelaide Oval.
CROWS v SAINTS Full match coverage and stats
The Saints managed only two goals after quarter-time and slip to 15th on the ladder, with Adelaide replacing them in 14th spot.
Emerging Crows on-baller Jake Soligo revelled in the wet with 25 disposals, as did stalwarts Jordan Dawson (26 disposals) and triple club champion Rory Laird (31).
St Kilda defender Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera collected a team-high 29 possessions and Mattaes Phillipou was a standout with 20 possessions and a classy third-term goal.
Mason Wood and Cooper Sharman kicked two majors each while Hunter Clark (21 touches) and the recalled Zak Jones (20) were busy.
The Saints led 3.3 to 2.1 at quarter-time, with Sharman slotting two set-shots and Phillipou prominent with eight disposals including three clearances.
But the tide turned in the second quarter as the Crows scored three goals to one to take a four-point half-time advantage, 5.5 to 4.7.
Adelaide gained ascendancy around the ball as rain made ball-handling tricky, with the home side recording 18 inside 50s to St Kilda's eight for the quarter.
Heavy rain continued throughout the third term, resulting in a scoring stalemate as both sides failed to kick a major for almost 23 minutes.
The deadlock was broken in style by the Saints' Phillipou, who bounced through a 55 metre goal from near the boundary line.
That strike got St Kilda to within one point, but the Crows responded two minutes later when Lachie Sholl neatly collected a half-volley in the goalsquare and converted.
Adelaide held an eight-point buffer, 6.10 to 5.8, at three-quarter time and gained precious breathing space 11 minutes into the last term when Billy Dowling goaled.
Then Thilthorpe got to work in a sight to warm Crows fans on a cold night, as they look for positives to take from a disappointing season.
Wet weather football, dry weather umpiring
The conditions were not favourable for skilled football on Saturday night, so the players went old-school, banging the ball forward off the sodden Adelaide Oval turf at every opportunity. However, the umpires weren't about to wind back the clock, paying what must have been a record number of free kicks for 'insufficient intent'. It got to the point where players were appealing for free kicks almost every time the ball went over the boundary line, with a fourth-quarter call eliciting laughter from both Ross Lyon and Matthew Nicks.
Mattaes takes matters into his own hands
With just under 23 minutes ticked by on the clock in the third quarter neither team had managed a goal for the term, so Matthaes Phillipou thought he'd cut out the middle man. The young Saint grabbed the ball out of congestion on the forward flank and looked up. Seeing nothing between him and the goals he sunk in the boot from outside the 50 and watched it land just short of the sticks before skipping through in the wet. It was smart and perfectly executed football from a player starting to emerge late in his second season.
Hello! Hello! Is that Cuddly Ross?
Ross Lyon has been around football a long time and has seen many changes in the game, but one thing that hasn't changed is the old-fashioned telephones fitted in the Adelaide Oval coaches boxes. And another constant is that Lyon doesn't mind a moment of stress relief. Only problem is the two things don't always go together, and there's going to need to be a bit of maintenance work in the visiting team's box after not-so-cuddly Ross used the phone to vent his frustration in the second quarter. It seemed someone put the pieces back together before another outburst later in the match sent the phone to Handset Heaven.
ADELAIDE 2.1 5.5 6.10 10.11 (71)
ST KILDA 3.3 4.7 5.8 5.9 (39)
GOALS
Adelaide: Thilthorpe 2, Sholl 2, Murphy, Keays, Himmelberg, Fogarty, Dowling, Rachele
St Kilda: Wood 2, Sharman 2, Phillipou
BEST
Adelaide: Dawson, Laird, Sholl, Keays, Taylor
St Kilda: Marshall, Phillipou, Clark, Wanganeen-Milera
INJURIES
Adelaide: TBC
St Kilda: Battle (leg)
SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Riley Thilthorpe, replaced Elliott Himmelberg at three-quarter time.
St Kilda: Ben Paton, replaced Riley Bonner in the fourth quarter.
Crowd: 34,549 at Adelaide Oval
