Betts the best in game 300
H. McKay, 4; L. Casboult, 3; J. Silvagni, M. Gibbons, M. McGovern, M. Murphy, P. Dow, S. Petrevski-Seton, S. Walsh, Z. Fisher.
S. Lloyd, T. Dickson, 2; B. Gowers, T. Liberatore, T. McLean.
P. Cripps, H. McKay, S. Petrevski-Seton, Z. Fisher, M. Murphy, L. Jones, S. Walsh, L. Casboult, N. Newman. C. Daniel, T. English, T. Liberatore, M. Bontempelli, J. Macrae 35,558 R. Chamberlain, D. Harris, A. Whetton weekend’s heartbreaking lastgasp defeat to Gold Coast.
“We’ve been building towards this,” he said.
“Our effort indicators, even the scoreline, (show) we’ve been in games and really close to getting a result in the last four weeks. Internally, we’ve understood that.
“Last week was hard to swallow because, until the last 10 seconds, we had the game.
“You could lose morale and sink but they were outstanding.”
For the Bulldogs, Caleb Daniel played a fine hand in defence and Marcus Bontempelli and Tom Liberatore combined for 16 clearances.
Tim English also toiled admirably in the ruck, but there were far too many passengers in Luke Beveridge’s outfit.
Beveridge, watching his side slip from 2-0 to 2-3 for the season, said the match was lost “in the middle at the start” as Cripps stamped his authority at stoppages.
“After that, it was just efficiency going forward,” he said, lamenting the Bulldogs’ woeful goalkicking.
“They got the better of us well and truly. We couldn’t get any momentum ... they played well.” ADELAIDE: E. Betts 6, L. Murphy 3, T. Walker 3, B. Smith 2, H. Greenwood 2, E. Himmelberg, T. Lynch.
P. Wright 3, A. Sexton, B. Fiorini, J. Lukosius.
B. Smith, R. Sloane, E. Betts, L. Murphy, M. Crouch, B. Crouch, C. Ellis-Yolmen.
T. Miller, P. Hanley, B. Fiorini, P. Wright. 40,847 at Adelaide Oval. Jacob Mollison, Robert O’Gorman, Andre Gianfagna. ADELAIDE folk hero Eddie Betts has celebrated his 300th AFL match with six goals in a 73-point thrashing of Gold Coast.
Betts was chaired from Adelaide Oval on teammates’ shoulders after the Crows’ resounding win yesterday.
Adelaide’s triumph was created by a second-term blitz that reaped five goals to none as the Suns slipped to their second loss of the season.
Betts capped his milestone with a trademark freak goal — a 30m left-foot checkside from the boundary line in the last quarter.
He had nine scoring shots as the Crows banked a muchneeded second win of the season.
Co-captain Taylor Walker and fellow forward Lachlan Murphy kicked three goals apiece while halfback Brodie Smith (27 disposals, two goals) was outstanding in his 150th AFL game.
Smith provided dash from defence while Rory Sloane (32 possessions), Matt Crouch (36 touches), his brother Brad (34 disposals) and Cam EllisYolmen (29 touches) formed a dominant midfield.
The onball brigade helped the Crows break the game open after a forgettable first term when Adelaide’s Murphy kicked the sole goal after the quarter-time siren.
The Crows piled on five goals to craft a decisive 34point halftime lead, despite losing utility Wayne Milera to a left shoulder injury after a crunching bump with Gold Coast’s Pearce Hanley.
Hanley (29 disposals) was among the better players for Gold Coast.
Emerging Sun Brayden Fiorini kicked a goal among his 30 possessions, Peter Wright kicked three majors and Touk Miller (29 disposals, 10 tackles) battled gamely.