PORT Adelaide has continued its winless start to the season with a 68-point loss to the Sydney Swans at the SCG.
The Power were competitive in the first half to trail by 22 points at the long break, before a third-quarter blitz from the Swans left them reeling.
The home side piled on seven goals to Port Adelaide’s one, extending the margin to 62 points at three-quarter time on the way to a 22.14 (146) to 11.12 (78) victory.
Shaun Burgoyne (19 touches and four goals) was the best of a Port Adelaide midfield that was denied the time and space required to hurt the opposition.
One significant positive was the form of skipper Warren Tredrea, who moved with much of his old fluency, but he marred a strong game with lacklustre finishing to kick 2.4.
Barry Hall (five goals) and Michael O’Loughlin (four) starred up forward for the Swans to lead the home side’s 12 individual goalkickers.
O’Loughlin kicked two of his goals within in two minutes in the third term to kickstart the Swans’ game-breaking run.
When key defender Leo Barry, who blanketed Power forward Brett Ebert, converted after a strong contested grab in a rare attacking foray, the Swans led by 10 goals and the Power’s charge had effectively ended.
Honours were roughly even in the final term, which was highlighted by classy goals from Daniel Motlop and David Rodan.
Earlier, the Power dominated the first-quarter clearances through Brendon Lade and Shaun Burgoyne and their forwards took full advantage, slotting three goals in the first 10 minutes to take a handy lead.
But the Swans, who had allowed the visitors to play an uncharacteristically open style of football, gradually increased the pressure through the midfield.
They piled on five unanswered goals from five different scorers, largely through Port Adelaide turnovers coming off half back.
Tredrea steadied the ship with his second goal of the term to reduce the margin to 13 points at the first change.
Port Adelaide continued in the same positive vein in the second term, with early goals to Kane Cornes and Shaun Burgoyne cutting the deficit to single figures.
It was a short-lived revival however, as the home side quickly locked down on the Power’s ball carriers.
Where the likes of Kane Cornes, Danyle Pearce and the Burgoyne boys had room to use their skills early in the first quarter, space around the ball was at a premium.
David Rodan was one of the few Power midfielders able to find time to use the ball precisely.
Two glaring misses from Tredrea – one from an errant shot on the run just 30m from goal – were indicative of the Power’s unease from the perceived pressure brought to bear by their opponents.
Goals to Hall, who was kept reasonably quiet in the first half by Toby Thurstans, and Jarrad McVeigh emphasised the Swans’ efficiency up forward, and a late major from Brett Kirk stretched the half-time deficit to 22 points.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
Sydney Swans 6.2 10.5 17.10 22.13 (146)
Port Adelaide 4.1 6.7 7.8 11.12 (78)
GOALS
Swans: Hall 5, O'Loughlin 4, Bevan 2, Kirk 2, McVeigh 2, Goodes, Jack, Roberts-Thomson, Grundy, Barlow,, J. Bolton. Barry
Port: S Burgoyne 4 D Motlop 2, Tredrea 2,, K Cornes, Pettigrew, Rodan
BEST
Swans: Hall, O'Loughlin, Mattner, J Bolton, Jack, McVeigh
Port: Lade, S Burgoyne, Tredrea, Rodan, Salopek
INJURIES
Swans: Jolly (ankle)
Port: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: McLaren, Rosebury, Stevic
Official crowd: 24,700 at SCG
