AS Adelaide coach Neil Craig put it, the Crows` 17-point AFL win over Fremantle was far from a great game but contained evidence to suggest there is better in store for his young team.The home side were given a serious fright by a persevering Fremantle before surviving to record a tense victory at AAMI Stadium.
The Crows made all the early running, but did not put Fremantle away and were ultimately fortunate to trudge off winners, 12.16 (88) to 10.11 (71), having doggedly kept possession for much of the final five minutes.
Playing freely through the middle and then bobbing up late to kick the match-sealing goals, Andrew McLeod was outstanding for Adelaide, and received strong support from Michael Doughty, Brad Symes and Jason Porplyzia (two goals). Brett Burton and Simon Goodwin fired through three goals each for the Crows.
"I thought it was a very good win, we`ve come off, as we said a really poor performance against Hawthorn," Craig said.
"For our club to re-group and the performance of a lot of our younger guys against a strong bodied side, to play reasonable footy in the first and then hold strong in the end where we basically killed four minutes of footy if you like, not a great game but we`re pretty happy."
Dockers youngster Rhys Palmer was superb for the visitors, as was another tyro Garrick Ibbotson.
Peter Bell played a key role in fuelling his side`s third term resurgence, while Jeff Farmer nabbed three goals and Aaron Sandilands enjoyed his expected ruck advantage.
Adelaide enjoyed far more space against the out of sorts Dockers than they had last week from Hawthorn, but failed to take advantage early, leading by just eight points during the second term.
The Dockers, though, continued to struggle for fluency, and a brace of fine kicks by Burton and Goodwin stretched the lead to a 25 at the half.
By time on in the third it had eased out to 30 and the Crows appeared safe against the still hesitant Dockers.
But a "purple patch" from Farmer saw the visitors nail the last two goals of the term, and it was to be Adelaide who began the final term looking the more nervous side.
Two quick majors to Johnson and Solomon took the visitors to within one straight kick and brought groans aplenty from the crowd.
For a tantalising few minutes it seemed inevitable the Dockers would nab the lead with a series of attacks.
But the final pass was elusive, and a tiring Adelaide were able to find a handful of more organised attacks.
A fortunate free allowed Scott Thompson to convert from a tight angle, and a pair of poaching efforts from McLeod gave the Crows just enough breathing room to win.
Dockers coach Mark Harvey was pleased with his side`s improvement on a dire home loss to Richmond, though he bemoaned a lack of ruthlessness when it mattered most.
"You bring in some kids and I thought Rhys Palmer was sensational in the last quarter, to see a kid do that in his first year, have the audacity to keep coming and give the team some hope," he said.
"I`m disappointed because we lost but I was happy with the way they kept coming throughout the game but we still haven`t put ourselves in a situation where we`re in control of the game, and we need to understand to be ruthless about that."
AAP
