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Crows claim Darwin thriller

June 1, 2019 11:00 pm in by

AFTER surrendering a 33-point lead to lose to AFL premiers West Coast last week Adelaide erased a 31-point deficit to defeat Melbourne in the Top End.

The Demons led from the moment they kicked a behind in the first couple of minutes of the match until time-on in the final quarter on Saturday at Darwin’s TIO Stadium.

Adelaide won by two points 14.6 (90) to 12.16 (88) after the kicking 5.2 (32) to Melbourne’s wasteful 1.8 (14) in the final quarter.

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Crowd favourite Eddie Betts produced some brilliance kicking the ball from the boundary line to Brad Crouch who put the seventh-placed Crows (6-5) in front.

As well as setting up the winning goal Betts also kicked a major in the final quarter, his second for the match.

Key Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins – who was recalled after controversially spending six weeks in the reserves – also kicked a brilliant goal in the final term after he shook off a high tackle.

Sam Weideman had a chance to win the contest for Melbourne inside the final minute but his set shot only produced a behind from a range of 50-metres.

The Demons (3-8) had appeared on course to repeat last year’s thrashing of the Crows in Alice Springs and initially looked slicker than they had in what has been a disappointing campaign.

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Under scrutiny Melbourne players Nathan Jones and Jack Viney performed well early alongside fellow midfielders Clayton Oliver and James Harmes but the Crows eventually gained control.

Adelaide, backed by a partisan crowd of 10,634 gradually bridged the gap and handled Darwin’s energy-sapping heat better down the stretch

© AAP 2019

ADELAIDE 4.0 5.3 9.4 14.6 (90)

MELBOURNE 6.3 9.4 11.8 12.16 (88)

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Goals: Adelaide: B Crouch 3 T Lynch 3 E Betts 2 J Jenkins 2 C Ellis-Yolmen J Gallucci L Murphy T Walker. Melbourne: J Garlett 3 A Brayshaw C Oliver C Petracca J Harmes J Hunt M Hannan N Jones S Weideman T Smith.

Umpires: Dean Margetts, Nicholas Foot, Robert O’Gorman.

Official Crowd: 10,634 at TIO Stadium.

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