The Demons have spanked the Crows by 91 points in Alice Springs, in a performance that no one expected and few will believe unless they had seen it with their own eyes.
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Final score
Melbourne Demons 23.8.146
Adelaide Crows 8.7.55
The Melbourne Demons and the Adelaide Crows face off at the neutral venue of TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:20pm (AEST).
This should be a mouth-watering clash between two teams with form on the board. Melbourne come off four straight wins, admittedly against less than ladder leading opposition yet the confidence they will have built in recent weeks will be valuable in this one.
Adelaide have continued to fight there way through a difficult period of injuries and only a losss to arch rivals Port, blots their copybook over the last five weeks.
It is great to see Matt Crouch back in the twenty-two and as players come back over the next six weeks, the Crows will look to consolidate their position on the ladder.
This is a fourth vs fifth clash with the loser falling a game out of the top four and winner remaining in touch with the high flyers setting the pace atop the ladder.
For Adelaide, this is an important game if they have aspirations to reproduce their appearance deep in the finals in 2017.
For the Dees, this would be a statement, one that looked unlikely after a wobbly start to the season.
Prediction
Melbourne are finally starting to gel and will win in one of the closest and tight fought matches of the weekend.
Melbourne by a goal
Catch all the action on The Roar live coverage from 3:20pm (AEST).
sammy
Guest
The same scrutiny..Macca, I think they will cop it far worse as they should not be losing by those sort of margins even allowing for the players out of the team. It was a very bad day at the office and the effort was way down on what was needed against a team that was in form. Having said that, it would not surprise me at all if the crows respond this week and beat GWS and then split the Freo / hawks games to go to the bye at 8-5. I think the team has done very well to be at 6-3 before the game today with what they have had to put up with injury wise this year
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Lets not over dramatise Stuart. A week is a long time in footy. We've seen teams bounce back from these types of drubbings before. The Crows were humiliated by Collingwood earlier in the year and came back and beat the Swans the following week
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Didn't watch any of the game but the Crows are prone to these sorts of performances from time to time. Some times they just don't turn up which must be a real worry for coach Pyke. Had a brief look at the highlights and Pyke looked totally pi$$ed off at 3/4 time. As a Crows supporter I'm just glad this is a mid season stinker rather than a Grand Final.
Macca
Guest
I wonder if Adelaide will cop the same scrutiny as the blues did last week? Melbourne are looking very good.
Sammy
Guest
Too true. A very bad day at the office. Lets see how they respond this week
peter chrisp
Guest
& you can include West Coast Sydney as well as long as The Dees remain in the 8
Stuart Thomas
Expert
The Demons have spanked the Crows by 91 points in Alice Springs, in a performance that no one expected and few will believe unless they had seen it with their own eyes. From minute one it was all the Demons. Their run from the back line was outstanding as was their contested possession in the midfield. When the ball found the forwards, they were solid in the marking contest and competed well to lock the ball in the forward area and provide secondary opportunities. The kicking efficiency in front of goal was outstanding and the Demons will struggle to reproduce the accuracy and precision they achieved in Alice Springs for the remainder of the season. The Crows were a disgrace from the opening minutes and got no better throughout the contest. Beaten in every aspect of the game, they have a lot of soul searching to do after a performance that is potentially their worst in over two years. Well played Demons and good luck Adelaide as we move into week eleven of the competition. The Dees now sit in the top four and the Crows are on the outside looking in. Final Score Melbourne Demons 23 8 146 Adelaide Crows 8 7 55
The Brazilian
Roar Rookie
Insipid performance by the Crows. Impressive by the Dees.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Adelaide?
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Thanks for your company this afternoon and the match report will follow in ten minutes.
Kurt
Guest
It feels weird to write this but I think the Dees are genuine contenders this year. That was a seriously complete performance.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Full Time A great day for the Dees and the Crows might never recover from such a humiliating loss.
Melbourne: 23.8 (146) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Goal 29 - Brayshaw with the final kick of the game..........cream on the cake. What a win.
Melbourne: 23.8 (146) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Goal 27' - Hogan marks in front..............40 out............Yeeeesssss for the Deees. What a massacre this is.
Melbourne: 22.8 (140) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
26' - It is hard to believe, but the Adelaide effort seems to be dropping further.
Melbourne: 21.8 (134) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Goal 24' - Brayshaw with a set shot on fifty.........perfect.
Melbourne: 21.8 (134) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Behind 24' - Gawn does the same.
Melbourne: 20.8 (128) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Behind 24' - Scrappy point for the Dees.
Melbourne: 20.7 (127) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Goal 22' - McDonald off the Hogan handball and the Dees ice the cake.
Melbourne: 20.6 (126) Adelaide: 8.7 (55)