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Melbourne lost Liam Jurrah and Daniel Bell to serious injuries in the space of a few ruinous minutes during their narrow loss to Adelaide in an AFL practice match on Saturday.
On an afternoon of fickle weather at Elizabeth Oval, the Demons impressed for long stretches before faltering enough to allow the Crows to win 9.15 (69) to 10.7 (67) in front of around 5,500 spectators.
The first quarter was cruelly punctuated by the sight of Jurrah sustaining a dislocated shoulder before Bell doubled over with a dislocated AC joint – Jurrah having already showcased his outrageous talent by kicking one over his head for the Dees’ first goal.
The Crows were able to summon greater fluency in the third quarter, and had the strength of Kurt Tippett (five goals including the match-clincher) and the fight of Tyson Edwards to thank for squeezing out their maiden win of the pre-season.
Despite the injuries, Melbourne’s wider prospects for 2010 were made to look brighter for much of the contest, as draftees Jack Trengove and Tom Scully vindicated their high ratings by running rings around a comparatively flat Adelaide midfield during the first half.
“We had our chances but we did not take them, the Crows were very good for most of the game and had a lot of inside 50m (entries)” said Demons coach Dean Bailey.
“We tried to get the ball out of our backline as well as we could, but we kept on getting stonewalled by their zone, we probably over-handled the ball at times but we hung in there.
“We lost players a long the way but our attitude was good.”
The start was delayed by 20 minutes as Melbourne’s team bus was tardy in arriving for the fixture.
Rain swept the ground before the start, though conditions settled down as the Crows made a fast start.
They had three goals on the board, two to Tippett, before Melbourne had notched a single attack, but an improved effort late in the term saw the Dees pull back to within two points at the change.
Injuries to Jurrah and Bell were a significant blow to the visitors, limiting Melbourne’s forward options with both players now likely to miss a chunk of the season.
Encouragingly for the Demons, the losses did little to sap their composure, as they handled the greasy and windy conditions rather better than a flat-looking Adelaide and they thoroughly deserved a 19-point advantage at the half.
The Crows were desperately in need of the spark they had struggled to find so far this year, and it took a sterling quarter by Tippett – always the Crows’ first target up forward – to provide it.
He kicked two goals and provided an unstinting contest during other attacks to take Adelaide to the front.
Brilliant sunshine emerged in the final term as the game concluded, the lead changing several times before Tippett won a free-kick near goal and slotted his fifth with only seconds remaining.
“I liked our effort, even though it was only a trial game it was important for our guys to keep fighting,” said Crows coach Neil Craig.
“To come back in those conditions was pleasing.
“For a long time we dominated the game.”
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