Danger for Dogs as Crows strike

Crows star Patrick Dangerfield bursts away on his way to booting four goals against the Dogs. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser

COMETH the hour, cometh the man. Patrick Dangerfield ignited the Crows' form turnaround and his teammates followed.

With struggling Adelaide in desperate need of a win in a match inaugural captain Chris McDermott dubbed a mini-final, the Crows' best player stood tall.

Clearly battling a knee injury and the affects of some bone-crunching hits in the opening three rounds, explosive midfielder Dangerfield - playing primarily as a forward - turned it on at the start to give Brenton Sanderson's outfit the ascendancy.

Dangerfield produced some of his renowned magic to kick the Crows' first three goals in the wet and all but one of their goals in the first half.In the second half, his teammates followed his lead and raised their games.

Rory Laird and Sam Kerridge in the rooms after Adelaide's win. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: adelaidenow

With the club already walking the finals tightrope with a 1-2 record and needing to quickly get their season back on track, midfielders Richard Douglas, Scott Thompson and Rory Sloane took over from where Dangerfield left off.

They won so much of the ball the toothless Bulldogs ventured in their attacking 50-metre zone only 40 times and kicked a paltry four goals.

Dangerfield matched that total by himself, kicking his fourth goal in the final term to cap off a gamebreaking display.

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He's played more brilliant games but - just like he did against Brisbane in round two - he won the game off his own boot when it was up for grabs.

His four goals and 21 disposals came despite the close checking of Dogs' master taggers Nick Lower and Liam Picken.

Rory Laird handballs to Richard Douglas Picture: Reed Sarah Source: The Advertiser

"It was a fairly hard slog early, especially given the conditions, and Patty really turned it on for us,'' veteran defender Ben Rutten said.

"His goals were really important and set us on our way.''

Thompson (29 disposals), Sloane (28) and Douglas (25) won the midfield battle, despite Dogs Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney (30 possessions), Tom Liberatore (33) and veteran Matthew Boyd (28) winning their share of the ball.

Down back, the Rutten-led defence restricted the Bulldogs to just 4.4 (28) - their lowest score against the Crows.

With Rutten blanketing Ayce Cordy and former AFL Rising Star runner-up Andy Otten rediscovering his best form, Adelaide kept the Dogs scoreless for 58 minutes from late in the first quarter to late in the third.

Taylor Walker gets brought down by Dale Morris Picture: Reed Sarah Source: The Advertiser

The win was only Adelaide's second against the Bulldogs in the past six clashes between the clubs.

And it is the first time since 2007 the Crows have won two in a row against them.

In other positive signs for Adelaide, defensive debutant Rory Laird did not look out of place on the big stage while second-gamer Sam Kerridge was given a shutdown role on Dogs playmaker Ryan Griffin and kept him to a modest 15 disposals before he was forced from the field in the final term with a shoulder injury.

Kerridge's breakout game was capped off with his first AFL goal after the final siren.

On a day Sanderson threw his side around, he surprised by starting small forward Jason Porplyzia as the sub.

Luke Brown gets tackled by Koby Stevens Picture: Reed Sarah Source: Herald Sun

The elusive Porplyzia had been their most influential forward in their past eight games against the Bulldogs, kicking 13 goals.

The wet conditions should have suited him but Sanderson opted to play the taller Tom Lynch as his extra forward, with Dangerfield the player he tried to isolate.

It took Dangerfield only 58 seconds to start the ball rolling for the Crows.

He broke clear of Lower to swoop on a loose ball and run into an open goal.

With heavy rain turning the contest into a slog, Dangerfield's class again stood out as he capitalised on Adelaide's inside-50 dominance to boot the home side's second major.

The Dogs were held goalless for the first 25 minutes but they then bagged two goals in a minute - courtesy of classy finishes from Boyd and Cooney.

Coach Brendan McCartney turned to Picken to stop Dangerfield's influence but it was to no avail.

The 23-year-old quickly turned him inside out to kick his and the Crows' third goal - the 100th of his already-stellar career.It took the Dogs until time-on in the final term to register their third goal. By that time, the bird had flown.

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