A struggling West Coast Eagles outfit have reignited their hopes of a finals berth with an emphatic 31-point upset win over the Adelaide Crows, who in turn have squandered their chance to consolidate a spot in the top eight.
You would be forgiven for thinking West Coast were the ones who held a spot in the top eight, as they seemed to play with greater intensity than Adelaide for most of the match to win 20.16 (136) to 16.9 (105) at the Adelaide Oval.
Josh Kennedy was immense all game kicking 5.4, and capitalised in the second half when his direct opponent in Daniel Talia was subbed out of the game due to an accidental knock to the head.
The encounter started very much to script with Taylor Walker and Eddie Betts combining for goals of their own, as Adelaide shot out to a 24-point lead before West Coast registered a score.
Adelaide continued to dominate in the middle of the ground, controlling play with 16 contested possessions to six early on. But West Coast worked their way back into the match, as they started to move the ball with more authority and began to convert their forward movement into scoring opportunities.
It was from there the Eagles kicked into life, going on to kick 4.5 to nil in the latter half of the quarter, before Adelaide steadied with a goal through Josh Jenkins.
West Coast started the second term much like they finished the first, with frenetic intent, as a Xavier Ellis goal handed them the lead.
Most alarmingly, Adelaide had conceded nine of the last 11 goals to that point, and it was a freakish off-balance snap by Brad Crouch running through traffic and a Taylor Walker steadier that helped keep the Crows within two goals going into the main break.
Adelaide played with renewed belief in third quarter, courtesy of crucial goals to Taylor Walker up forward and dominance of Patrick Dangerfield, who accumulated nine disposals for the term and provided crucial contested ball in close.
Despite leading by two-points going into the final change, all of Adelaide’s hard work was undone in the space of a quarter with Josh Kennedy almost single-handedly burying them with his dominance in the absence of Talia, kicking three of West Coast’s six majors in the final quarter.
Matthew Priddis (31 disposals), Andrew Gaff (31 disposals, three goals) were the other standouts for the Eagles, whilst Brad Crouch (30 disposals), Scott Thompson (31 disposals), Taylor Walker (four goals), and Eddie Betts (three goals) were the key contributors for the Crows.
As it stands, West Coast now sit just a game outside the eight, and with a lofty percentage in their favour, are once more a mathematical chance of sneaking a finals spot if they continue to win their remaining matches.
Adelaide, meanwhile, are in jeopardy of losing their spot to either Collingwood or Gold Coast if both sides happen to win their respective matches this weekend.
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