Kozzy tears Port apart
Six goals puts Dees back on track
MELBOURNE has all but crushed Port Adelaide’s finals hopes and solidified its top-two spot following a 14-point win at Traeger Park in Alice Springs.
It was a rusty start to Sunday’s crucial clash, with both sides failing to capitalise on the scoreboard despite 11 inside-50s from the Demons and 13 from the Power in the opening term.
Scores may have been hard to come by in the first quarter, but Melbourne soon came to the party kicking back-to-back majors in the opening minutes of the second term as the game transformed into an entertaining shootout.
Kysaiah Pickett led the Demons’ surge with two classy snaps, but it was the Power’s Miles Bergman who easily produced the goal of the day with a brilliant banana by the boundary line.
The Power looked ready to take down the reigning premiers in the first two quarters, trailing by just four points at the long break, but Melbourne then unleashed six unanswered goals to set up the win.
Pickett gave his best performance of the season, helping himself to six goals – the most scored in an AFL match in Alice Springs.
The tough journey home doesn’t end here for the Power, which is set to take on Geelong,
Collingwood and Richmond in the next three weeks.
JUST KICK IT TO PICKETT
MELBOURNE had averaged less than 10 goals a game over its past four losses and that concerning pattern continued in the first quarter at Alice Springs, as the Dees wasted countless offensive opportunities, kicking 0.4.
And with Jake Lever going off the ground with a shoulder concern, Melbourne again looked vulnerable.
But everything changed in the second term through the kicking boot of Pickett.
Pickett snapped two brilliant majors – the first on his opposite foot – to give his team the offensive lift it needed.
But his best was to come in the third, getting his boot to a ball in mid-air to stop Port Adelaide’s momentum.
He finished with a careerhigh six goals.
WET TRACK AT TRAEGER
THE Red Centre’s Traeger Park appeared to resemble a cricket wicket pre-match rather than a football oval, at first glance, going by the number of ground staff in the middle.
The centre square had reportedly been overwatered before the match and staff were forced to use blowers to remove excess moisture.
Fortunately, they managed to dry the ground in time to bounce the ball.
NO SCOREBOARD PRESSURE
THE raw numbers pointed towards a Port victory, with the Power boasting 57 more disposals and a dominant inside-50 count (55-49).
But it could not convert that dominance into a winning score, with Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall and Jeremy Finlayson kept to just four goals between them.
A threatening Sam PowellPepper also failed to produce a goal from several shots.