Crows pip Eagles for top spot

Adelaide   82 defeated West Coast   74

The Adelaide Crows have snatched the minor premiership from West Coast with a nail-biting eight-point victory at Subiaco this afternoon.

The Eagles looked to have a lock on the minor premiership for more than half the season, but tripped at the final hurdle and now will have to launch their September assault from second place.

But the win may come at a huge cost for the Crows, with the reporting of inspirational skipper Mark Riccutio early in the second-quarter.

The 2003 Brownlow medallist was reported for making head high contact with Eagles’ youngster Adam Selwood, who was subsequently concussed and stretchered off the field.

The Crows were sensational and were well led by Tyson Edwards and Graham Johncock, who did well to combat the destructive Eagles’ midfield and scored points of their own.

Ian Perrie was the visitor’s highest goalkicker with three, including a brilliant goal in the final quarter to help keep the Eagles at bay.

2004 Brownlow medallist Chris Judd tried his heart out and finished with 26 possessions, while Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr were also solid contributors in the engine room.

Quieten Lynch and Mark Nicoski did the work up forward for the Eagles with two apiece, but really needed to have a greater influence on the match.

The first-quarter saw the Crows serve it up to the home side, and at quarter-time the Crows led by a goal.

The Crows upped the ante in the second-quarter and looked more switched on than their Eagles counterparts, who looked remarkably flat.

Adelaide led by 20 points at time-on in the quarter, before a goal to the Eagles after the siren reduced the margin back to 14 points.

The third-quarter saw the Eagles mount a mini-revival through the endeavours through the midfield trio of Judd, Cousins and Kerr who lifted considerably.

At the final change, the Eagles were down by a goal and looked ominous going into the final-quarter.

But it was the Crows who struck first in the term, with Ian Perrie kicking a great goal from a set shot on the boundary line to extend the margin to 16 points at the eight-minute mark.

But then the Eagles got it back when Kerr marked strongly in the goal square and goaled to bring it back to 10 points.

In a low-scoring and tense final stanza, the Crows prevailed by eight points thanks to some inaccurate kicking by the Eagles – Fletcher in particular who missed two sitters – to clinch the minor premiership.

Next week we progress to the finals series, where both West Coast and Adelaide will host a home qualifying final.

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