Adelaide veterans Nigel Smart and Ben Hart proved yet again why they have been regarded as one of the AFL’s best defensive partnerships of the past decade as they led a virtual complete shutdown of West Coast’s attack in the Crows’ elimination final victory on Saturday.

The Crows ended all Western Australian involvement in this year’s finals series after just one week by thrashing the Eagles 16.17 (113) to 8.9 (57) in front of only 38,000 fans at AAMI Stadium.

As a contest this knockout final was as disappointing as the sight of Adelaide’s 54,000 capacity home ground being only three quarters full for the Crows’ first home final since 1997.

In fact so poor was West Coast’s performance in this match it did not even kick successive goals until the final quarter when the game was well and truly lost.

And for that the Crows, they yet again had the remarkable pairing of Hart and Smart to thank as Adelaide earned itself a knockout semi-final away from home next week against either Collingwood or Brisbane.

But as for the Eagles they now join local rivals Fremantle on the September scrapheap, continuing their dreadful recent finals record which has seen them win just two of 11 finals since their 1994 grand final victory.

The Eagles’ forward line, which had struggled in recent weeks as John Worsfold’s team won just one of its last five games to limp into the finals in seventh place, totally disintegrated in the windy conditions at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.

And that was mostly due to the efforts of Hart and Smart, who used every bit of their combined 540 games of experience to frustrate just about every Eagles’ attack.

Hart, who came into this game having missed the past three matches with a quad strain, kept the Eagles’ leading goalkicker Phillip Matera goalless with Worsfold eventually benching his pint-sized goalsneak late in the third term.

And Smart simply kept rebounding the ball out of the Crows’ defensive 50 at will, setting up constant attacks – one of which set up a goal for Mark Stevens which all but ended this match as a contest midway through the third term.

While the Crows have also struggled for goals in recent weeks – this was the first time they had managed to kick 100 points in a match since round 17 – they had far too many attacking options for the Eagles.

Not only did Wayne Carey start brilliantly as the Crows dominated the opening 15 minutes but Stevens was also dangerous while Brett Burton was a constant livewire both in the air and on the ground.

The Crows’ midfield also chipped in with all-important goals with former Carlton wingman Kris Massie playing one of his best games while Andrew McLeod – back in the midfield much to the delight of the home fans – also produced moments of magic.

And all the while the Crows were being magnificently led by inspirational skipper Mark Ricciuto, who won kicks at will and along with the underrated Tyson Edwards was the Crows’ most effective player.

Edwards was just as effective in attack as he was in the midfield and if not for three missed opportunities in the first quarter, he could have finished with six goals instead of only two.

The Crows’ defensive and attacking performances were even more creditable considering they lost their leading goalkicker this season Graham Johncock to a hamstring injury before the game while centre-half-back Ken McGregor was a late withdrawal with the flu.

But still the Eagles were no match for the Crows although the experience of Glen Jakovich and the skill of David Wirrpunda were both missed in defence.

And if it had not been for the efforts of skipper Ben Cousins and star big man Michael Gardiner, who again spent the game up forward rather than in the ruck raising doubts over whether he was 100 percent fit – the Eagles would have been lucky to score at all.

But even more frustrating for Worsfold than the sight of his team having so few contributors was their constant overuse of the ball and poor decision-making.

In fact their entire performance was summed up by an incident late in the first quarter when defender Darren Glass had several chances to dispose of the ball to a teammate after marking.

However Glass ignored them all and eventually opted to pass the ball about 15 metres to young defender Kasey Green.

But the kick sat up in the air horribly and as result Green not only suffered a leg injury and was forced to leave the field but as a result the ball was turned over, resulting in a goal to Robert Shirley, who was yet another star in what was a comfortable Adelaide victory.

ADELAIDE: 3.4, 7.6, 11.12, 16.17 (113)
WEST COAST: 1.1, 3.4, 5.7, 8.9 (57)

Goals: Adelaide: Massie 2, Edwards 2, Stevens 2, Carey, McLeod, Burton, Ricciuto, Welsh, Shirley, Bode, Goodwin, Burns, Reilly. West Coast: Gardiner 3, Cousins 3, Embley 2.
Best: Adelaide: Ricciuto, Edwards, Shirley, Hart, Smart, Massie, Carey, Stevens, McLeod. West Coast: Cousins, Gardiner, Banfield.
Injuries: Adelaide: Welsh (ankle). West Coast: Green (thigh).
Reports: Nil.
Changes: Adelaide: McGregor (flu) replaced in selected side by Perrie, Johncock (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Reilly. West Coast: Wooden (groin) replaced in selected side by Sierakowski.
Umpires: Vozzo, Coates, McInerney.
Crowd: 38,641
At AAMI Stadium