The Melbourne Demons have pulled off one of the great upsets of the year in the most emphatic fashion, torching a lethargic Adelaide Crows to triumph by 41 points.
Dees fans have endured plenty of agony over the last decade, but it was a magical night for the red and blue faithful as their team put the Crows to the sword in a third quarter that will live long in the memories of those who witnessed it.
Heading into the second half with a ten-point lead, the Demons came out firing, with Tom McDonald booting two within two minutes to give his side the lead.
From there, it was all Melbourne as the goals rained down, with Clayton Oliver’s miracle snap from the pocket – an early frontrunner for Goal of the Year – just one of many as the besieged Crows’ defence were unable to cope.
Jack Viney and Nathan Jones were monstrous in midfield, Michael Hibberd and Christian Salem clean and precise down back, and Cameron Pedersen and McDonald were unlikely heroes up forward with three and two goals respectively.
It wasn’t meant to be like this for the Crows, who everybody expected would come out firing after last week’s dismal loss to North Melbourne.
After the Dees put on the first two goals of the game, the Crows took control, booting six goals on end during the first and second quarters to get out to a 28-point lead. All the signs pointed towards an emphatic Adelaide win.
But then, as if from nowhere, the Demons came back. Tom Bugg added two in the dying stages of the half to breathe life back into the contest, and set it all up for a third quarter for the history books.
For the Crows, it was a night summed up best by one passage of play late in the last quarter.
Mitch Hannan marked behind the defence from a Jeff Garlett snap, and with nobody near him, strolled into the goalsquare to seal the game for Melbourne. Damningly, not one Crow made so much as a movement in his direction once he had marked.
It typified the Crows’ attitude on the night; they turned up expecting to win, and were given the most severe reality check by a Melbourne outfit who out-hunted, out-competed, and out-played them from the halfway point of the second quarter.
There were few winners for the Crows, but Sam Jacobs finished with 74 hitouts in a dominant display in the ruck, though some would say his opponent Pedersen beat him on the night with his three majors. Rory Laird was industrious as ever down back, but Adelaide had few other winners.
And top of the list of concerns will be Rory Sloane, who, for the second time in two weeks, was shut out of the game by a tagger, on this occasion Bernie Vince in his 200th game.
After racing to Brownlow favouritism in the first six weeks, Sloane has shown there is still one chink in his armour; he hasn’t yet proved he is able to cope with a tag. And with just 11 possessions and no influence, those doubts will grow ever louder.
But it wasn’t just that the Crows looked a shadow of the side that was all but handed the premiership by many pundits after Round 6.
It was a night for Melbourne fans to savour, a night that almost makes the decade of heartache and misery worth going through.
It was proof the side is on the right track under Simon Goodwin, whose first return to his old stomping ground as a senior coach yielded the Demons’ greatest victory in more than fifteen years.
It was proof the young stars in Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Sam Frost, Christian Salem and Jack Viney are going to lead this group deep into finals in the years to come.
It was, to put it simply, a red and blue night.
Final score
Adelaide Crows 9.12.66
Melbourne Demons 17.5.107
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