Kysaiah Pickett will be sweating on the MRO once more after landing another high blow.
Pickett left the ground to bump Crow Jake Soligo during the second quarter and caught him high, giving away a free kick.
Pickett initially jumped to smother Soligo’s attempted handball, but as he came down tucked his arm in and his shoulder collected the Crow in the side of the head.
Pickett has form in this area, copping a week after taking Carlton captain Patrick Cripps high in last year’s finals series as well as two weeks for a high hit on Bailey Smith in round one last year.
It is potentially his third suspension in 13 months.
Taylor Walker has given the Crows a renewed burst of energy with a much-needed goal, and arresting a run of four Melbourne goals in succession.
The big Texan made a strong lead and then took a solid grab over Clayton Oliver before confidently slotting it home.
The Demons lead by 20 points.
Have the floodgates opened? Melbourne opens the third term with a goal to Bayley Fritsch, making it four in a row.
The goal came about because of a costly Crows turnover through the middle of the ground, allowing Clayton Oliver to intercept the ball and then go deep into the forward line to Fritsch. The Dees No.31 made the Crows pay.
Soon after Melbourne forward Ben Brown had his first kick of the night. That’s right, he went the first half without touching the pill. Even then, he mistimed his effort and kicked a point. Come on, Benny, it’s a good time to get your mitts on the leather.
Melbourne turned on the afterburners in time-on to turn a messy arm wrestle into a 17-point half-time lead over Adelaide in the Thursday night Gather Round opener.
Christian Petracca’s superb spinning finish broke a string of five Demons behinds to start the term before a rare Rory Laird major put the Crows back in front.
But Adelaide’s earlier wastefulness came back to haunt them as Melbourne, after their initial midfield mauling, got right on top at the stoppages.
The Dees slotted the last three goals of the stanza, capped by Jacob van Rooyen’s goal in the shadows of half-time on the back of a 50m penalty against Crows backman Mark Keane for umpire dissent.
Kysaiah Pickett will be sweating on the MRO once more after landing another high blow.
Pickett left the ground to bump Crow Jake Soligo during the second quarter and caught him high, giving away a free kick.
Pickett initially jumped to smother Soligo’s attempted handball, but as he came down tucked his arm in and his shoulder collected the Crow in the side of the head.
Pickett has form in this area, copping a week after taking Carlton captain Patrick Cripps high in last year’s finals series as well as two weeks for a high hit on Bailey Smith in round one last year.
It is potentially his third suspension in 13 months.
The Demons have broken the deadlock, scoring three straight goals inside the final three minutes of the second quarter.
First Kade Chandler slotted a left-footer for the Demons from the boundary just inside the 50m arc, then Kysaiah Pickett snapped truly. It was the first back-to-back goal of the match.
Then Jacob Van Royen rubbed salt in the wound by taking a mark and then being awarded a 50m penalty for umpire dissent.
It was a poor finish for the Crows. It allowed Melbourne to take the quarter four goals to one.
The Demons 43 pts lead the Crows 26 pts.
In this tight arm wrestle at Adelaide Oval, it is going to take moments of magic to hit the scoreboard. Yep, you guessed it, time for Izak Rankine to exert his influence.
Rankine showed his balance and composure by scooping up the ball on the 50m arc and then ducking and weaving and side-stepping his way through traffic before hitting up teammate Rory Laird. It was a light-footed performance befitting of Dancing With The Stars.
Laird then took his time to slot an important goal.
The Crows regain the lead by a point.
Cometh the moment, cometh the man. Christian Petracca has ended the Demons run of behinds, by spinning out of a pack and snapping a special goal.
It came about because of a massive smother from a diving Tom Sparrow that allowed the ball to spin to Petracca. It’s the one-percenters that make the difference.
The Demons lead by six points.
Jack Billing has butchered a sitter. The former Saint was strolling into an open goal for Melbourne and hooked his left-foot shot through the behinds.
The poor aim has been catching. Melbourne has opened the term with five behinds. So much for their opening season accuracy.
All this before a sell-out crowd. In fact, all nine of the Gather Round games have sold out. So for those Victorians thinking of making a last-minute dash across the border to catch a game, save your petrol money.
Darcy Fogarty’s goal with eight seconds remaining has given Adelaide a five-point quarter-time lead over Melbourne under Gather Round’s Thursday night lights at a heaving Adelaide Oval.
The Crows largely controlled the term, dominating inside-50s 19-8 and clearances 16-9, but their inefficiency and inaccuracy allowed the Demons to hold sway on the scoreboard before Fogarty’s late strike.
Demons defensive leader Steven May winced in discomfort following an early bump in his return from broken ribs, but his intercept-marking expertise has been unhampered, and he has thus far had Taylor Walker’s measure.
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