Pair lead Port to brink of playoffs

STARS Paddy Ryder and Robbie Gray have all but ensured Port Adelaide will play finals for the first time in three years.

Two weeks after the dynamic duo’s last-gasp heroics won the game against St Kilda, the pair’s class stood out at Adelaide Oval yesterday as the Power held off a gallant Pies 14.14 (98) to 10.11 (71).

Port, which led by 34 points late in the third quarter before conceding four goals, needs to win just one of its final two games against Bulldogs and Gold Coast to feature in September. The victory wasn’t pretty but it got the job done.

And while ruckman Ryder and small forward-midfielder Gray weren’t at their brilliant best, it was a handful of crucial plays from the pair that gave Port the advantage in a game it just had to win to play finals and keep its top-four hopes alive.

Ryder, who had his colours lowered by Showdown Medallist Sam Jacobs in last week’s record 84-point loss to Adelaide, took advantage of the absence of suspended Magpie Brodie Grundy to dominate.