Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson was in shock after the Crows pulled off a miraculous one-point AFL win, coming from five goals down in the last quarter of Sunday’s crucial clash with North Melbourne.
For North it was their fourth defeat by less than a goal in 2013 as their win-loss record slumped to 3-6 and their finals hopes began to evaporate.
Adelaide (5-4) jumped two spots to seventh on the ladder.
North led at every change and a goal to Daniel Wells at the 10-minute mark of the final term gave the home side a 30-point advantage.
However the Crows, inspired by 20-year-old Sam Kerridge’s six-goal haul including three in the final term, were never out of it.
Adelaide won 18.17 (125) to 19.10 (124) before a stunned crowd of 23,033 at Etihad Stadium as the Crows hit the front for the first time with 16 seconds remaining.
Jared Petrenko (two goals) was the hero as he ran onto a loose ball booted downfield by Kerridge and volleyed it through for the winning goal.
Patrick Dangerfield and Richard Douglas also played starring roles for the Crows.
Sanderson said it was a massive victory for the Crows in a vital game between two clubs battling to stay in touch with the top eight.
“It was critical that we got the win today,” Sanderson said.
“It’s still a bit of a blur to me.
“The message with six minutes to go was play on at all costs, handball, get the ball surging forward.
“Sometimes the footy gods are smiling on you which was really nice.
“I haven’t probably settled down from the game yet.
“I’m still in a bit of a shock that we won that one.”
Sanderson said there was confusion on the field due to a scoreboard malfunction as the Crows tackled the unlikely task of booting three goals in the final four minutes.
“And then of course the scoreboard was wrong in the stadium so what the players could see was they were two goals down, not one goal down. I’m not sure how that happens,” he said.
“A lot of our players didn’t know when Petrenko kicked that goal that we were in front. They thought we were still one goal down.
“In the coaches’ box we knew.”
Lindsay Thomas kicked five goals for the Kangaroos.
Jack Ziebell also played well but could face scrutiny from the match review panel for a late bump on Jarryd Lyons in the second quarter.
The Crows have a home game against Fremantle next Saturday while North host St Kilda at Etihad Stadium the following day.
North coach Brad Scott was also left shaking his head at the last-quarter madness.
“If you weren’t there watching it first-hand, it’s unbelievable,” Scott said.
“It’s the ability to lose the unloseable. It was just absolutely diabolical.”
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