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Adelaide survived a late scare in a tense nine-point win against North Melbourne which leaves the Kangaroos needing a miracle to reach the AFL finals.
Midfielder Matt Crouch was outstanding with 46 disposals as the Crows triumphed 12.14 (86) to 11.11 (77) on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.
The finals chances of the 10th-placed Kangaroos are miniscule – they’re a win behind eighth-placed Geelong and ninth-placed Port Adelaide entering the last round.
North need Geelong to lose at home by a massive margin to lowly Gold Coast, Essendon to down Port – and the Roos must also beat St Kilda by huge amount.
North trailed Adelaide by 37 points late in the third term before an unheralded late surge – they kicked four goals in five minutes to trail by three points with six minutes remaining.
But Adelaide hung on, with Eddie Betts taking a spectacular high mark with seconds to go and converting after the final siren.
North paid dearly for a second-term slumber – after booting the initial two goals, Adelaide kicked eight of the next nine majors to seize control.
The Crows kicked 4.4 to 0.3 for a 28-point halftime lead and extended their lead to 37 points late in the third before North’s belated rally.
Adelaide’s reigning club champion Crouch was superb with 11 kicks and 35 handballs while Rory Sloane, leading in the absence of suspended captain Taylor Walker, collected 29 possessions.
Defenders Rory Laird (41 touches) and Wayne Milera (23 disposals) were influential while Josh Jenkins kicked three goals and Hugh Greenwood and Mitch McGovern booted two each.
North’s Trent Dumont was his side’s leading disposal winner with a career-high 33, Shaun Higgins collected 29 touches and Majak Daw was stoic in defence.
Roo forward Jarrad Waite slotted three goals and Shaun Atley and ruckman Todd Goldstein two each but spearhead Ben Brown was kept goal-less by Andy Otten and now trails Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt by two majors in their battle for the Coleman medal.
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