The Power trailed narrowly at every change, but hit the front halfway through the final term courtesy of Daniel Motlop. Port Adelaide went inside 50m 16 times for the term, but could only manage three goals.
South Australian Tim Schmidt sealed victory for the Swans with a strong mark and goal in the dying minutes.
Brett Ebert, who rolled his ankle late in the game, booted an equal-career best six goals and skipper Warren Tredrea chimed in with three.
The Swans superseded their best first-quarter score for the season with eight goals against Port Adelaide in a drawn-out 36-minute opening term.
Paul Bevan struck first with a clever gather and goal, which was quickly followed up by another to Amon Buchanan.
The Power, through ruckmen Dean Brogan and Brendon Lade, got on top at the hit-outs and, immediately, Port Adelaide was able to push forward and set up Brett Ebert for the first of his three goals for the term.
It took only 11 minutes for the first interchange blunder to occur with the Swans somehow ending up with six men on the bench.
Luckily for Paul Roos, Ryan O’Keefe wasn’t one of them and he remained on the field to kick the first of his two goals for the quarter.
Lade, not content with just dominating the ruck, motored forward and willed his teammates on with a long bomb from outside 50m.
The two desperate sides continued to go goal-for-goal as Jarred Moore, Jarrad McVeigh, Brett Kirk and Craig Bolton all slotted majors for the Swans and Tredrea, Robbie Gray and Ebert kept the Power within 12 at the first break.
Port Adelaide matched the Swans in the all-important clearance and hardball counts in the first quarter and the Power went even harder in the second.
Unfortunately, for all the home side’s hard work and dominance, they could only muster three goals from seven scoring shots for the term.
Tredrea attempted to ignite his side with a clever snap at goal from some brilliant Brogan tap-work. Steve Salopek, Danyle Pearce, David Rodan and Justin Westhoff all got involved to move the ball forward, but Port Adelaide continued to waste valuable forays inside 50m.
Kane Cornes tightened up on dual Brownlow Medalist Adam Goodes, restricting him to just two touches for the quarter, and the Power’s defensive zone forced the Swans into error.
Ebert’s fourth gave Port Adelaide consecutive goals for the first time in the game, but the pesky Swans would not go away, with majors to Darren Jolly and Jarred Moore extending Sydney’s lead. A third to Tredrea reduced the margin to 11 points at half time.
Gray continued his impressive form in the third quarter with a desperate tackle on Craig Bolton resulting in Ebert’s fifth and reducing the margin to a single kick. But Ebert’s efforts were matched at the other end by Swans star Michael O’Loughlin.
O’Loughlin nabbed two goals in the tense third term, to keep the surging Port Adelaide at bay and increase the Swans’ lead to 14 points at the final change.
The Indigenous Round fixture wouldn’t have been complete without some magic from two of the Power’s biggest stars.
Peter Burgoyne, who spent more time in the midfield in the absence of suspended brother Shaun, had the margin back within eight points after kicking a goal in the opening minutes of the last quarter.
Daniel Motlop, not to be outdone, brought the crowd to their feet with a long bomb, which reduced the margin to just two points. Ebert’s first blemish had the Power within a point and an excitable Mark Williams wandered down to the boundary line for a closer look.
Choco was in prime position to see the mercurial Motlop dance around Bevan on the 50m line and ram home his second goal to give Port Adelaide the lead for the first time in the game.
Both teams were desperate and when Moore kicked his third, the scores were level.
Williams also watched as leading goal kicker Ebert limped off with an ankle injury and local lad Schmidt stole the lead with a mark and clever goal.
The Power fought desperately to muster a score, but a second to McVeigh put the result beyond doubt.
Port Adelaide 6.1 9.5 11.7 14.10 (94)
Sydney Swans 8.1 11.4 13.9 16.9 (105)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Ebert 6, Tredrea 3, Motlop 2, Lade, Gray, P Burgoyne
Sydney Swans: Moore 3, O’Keefe 2, O’Loughlin 2, Buchanan 2, McVeigh 2, Kirk, Bevan, Bolton, Jolly, Schmidt
BEST
Port Adelaide: Ebert, Salopek, Cassisi, Brogan, Tredrea, K Cornes, Thurstans, Motlop, Lade
Sydney Swans: Moore, Kirk, Buchanan, Jack, Goodes, J Bolton, C Bolton
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Ebert (ankle)
Sydney Swans: Nil reported
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Rosebury, McInerney
Official crowd: 25,013 at AAMI Stadium
The views expressed in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or clubs.
