ADELAIDE has produced strong second half to open their AFL win account for the year with a 26-point win over a struggling Sydney side at the SCG.
The Crows booted six goals to two after half-time and broke the game open in the third quarter, kicking 3.5 to 0.4 on their way to a 12.16 (88) to 8.14 (62) victory.
Adelaide was more efficient in hitting their forward targets against a Swans side which has kicked just 15 goals in their first two games.
Sydney kicked five goals in the second quarter, but paid a costly price for not applying more scoreboard pressure in the others.
Bryce Gibbs, Brad and Matt Crouch and Rory Sloane and Wayne Milera all got plenty of ball for the Crows, with Josh Jenkins, David Mackay and Riley Knight each kicking two goals
Sydney’s Lance Franklin kicked a match-high three goals, including two from close to the boundary line.
The first quarter on Friday was almost a carbon copy of the same term against Western Bulldogs in Melbourne last Saturday.
Sydney again kicked the first goal and Adelaide emulated the Bulldogs by slamming on the next four to make the score 4.2 (29) to 1.2 (8), the same as it was after one quarter at Marvel Stadium.
The highlight was a monster goal to Paul Seedsman from close to 60 metres, as Adelaide racked up 13 more contested possessions in the first quarter.
Nick Blakey goaled within 60 seconds of the restart and his senior forward colleague Franklin started to exert influence after a quiet first term in which he touched the ball just three times.
He kicked two goals, with Sydney booting three of the last four majors of the quarter to trail by just four points at halftime.
A classic arm wrestle in the third quarter produced nine straight behinds before successive goals to Tom Lynch and Eddie Betts gave the Crows a match-high 23-point lead at the last break.
Sydney couldn’t get the deficit below 17 in the last quarter, with Adelaide kicking three of the last four goals to round off a much more consistent effort than the one they produced in their opening round loss to Hawthorn.
Josh Kennedy tallied a match-high 36 touches for Sydney.
© AAP 2019
ADELAIDE 4.5 6.10 9.15 12.16 (88)
SYDNEY 1.2 6.6 6.10 8.14 (62)
Goals: Adelaide: D Mackay 2 J Jenkins 2 R Knight 2 B Crouch E Betts P Seedsman R Atkins T Lynch T Walker. Sydney: L Franklin 3 W Hayward 2 B Ronke N Blakey S Reid.
Umpires: Simon Meredith, Robert Findlay, Craig Fleer.
Venue: SCG.
