Dee-saster as Crows hit a new low

Melbourne held on to claim a morale-boosting victory over Adelaide Crows on Saturday night.

ADELAIDE'S season has hit another low after being stunned by Melbourne by three points at Adelaide Oval in one of the biggest upsets of the season.

The Crows are still 3-4 and not out of the finals race but the loss to a vastly improved Demons side has exposed several holes in the way Adelaide plays and there will be some serious questions asked of the players as they prepare for Collingwood in two weeks' time.

The first is how poorly they start, with a lack of intensity and desperation, the second is the attitude they brought out.

It gets worse — they were beaten at the stoppages, found themselves outnumbered and the forward line was not functioning.

They came back at Melbourne after giving away a big start, but they left it too late and to too few players.

What's worse, if they begin this poorly against one of the top clubs, they will get slaughtered.

Two things stood out in the Crows' fightback in the third quarter, when they were starting to look lively again.

The partnership between ruckman Sam Jacobs and Scott Thompson helped Adelaide get the ball moving forward and David Mackay's drive and pace from half back was prominent when it was forced to rebound.

His run and carry was invaluable and he epitomised how the complexion of the match changed as the Crows were closing in.

Discarded Crow Bernie Vince celebrates the Demonss upset win over Adelaide. Picture: Morne de Klerk.

Adelaide also lifted it intensity after looking shell-shocked and out of sorts for much of the first half.

Adelaide has developed a pattern of slow starts but there were greater concerns to deal with after they opened their first match against the Demons, which included former teammate Bernie Vince.

None was greater than the Crows' lack of ability to win the ball back when the Demons were in possession. They were lacking in spark, work rate, pace and desperation.

But Melbourne, the widely considered as the competition easybeat, has transformed rapidly under Sydney premiership coach Paul Roos.

Not only has he introduced a ruthless full-field defence, he has also transplanted the Swans' stingy ways with the ball.

When the Demons had it, they held on to it and guarded it as though it was a box of cash: they were prepared to go sideways, stand still and kick to numbers only when the numbers were in the teams' favour.

More importantly, they worked mercilessly to make sure they had at least even numbers at each contest. More often than not, they had an extra man around.

Jeremy Howe was dominant across half back, around the stoppages they could bank on the burst of Lynden Dunn and Jack Viney and when the ball was in dispute few read it better than co-captain Nathan Jones, an experienced player who has a bit of clout and calm about him.

Melbourne players celebrate a goal during the match against Adelaide. Picture: Simon Cross.

And up forward was Chris Dawes, the former Collingwood player, who kicked two important goals and taught the young Crows defenders a bit about strength and positioning.

The Crows had their highlights and they came from the usual suspects: Patrick Dangerfield had minutes of dominance, Rory Sloane kept putting his head over the ball without any sense of self preservation and James Podsiadly took a super mark for the highlight reel and was a presence in attack.

But the forward line, of which the players have spoken so highly, was not functioning. It was partly a result of what the midfield did: entries were shallow — around the 50 or 60-mark rather than deep into attack where it can be locked in or an easy goal can be kicked.

It didn't help that Tom Lynch, the club's most obvious lead-up forward, came off with an injured in the 13th minute of the first quarter after clashing with both Viney and Lynch and Georgiou Alex Georgiou.

Then Matthew Jaensch, who has been in fine form, came off with what appeared to be a corkie and the Crows were one down one on the bench. But the biggest question is this: where are the goals going to come from?

Adelaide got the ball into the forward-50 enough, but nothing happened. This was how bad the early goal drought was: the Crows' first came in the first quarter, their second in the 22nd minute of the second.

Adelaide Crows coach Brenton Sanderson laments his side's performance as they slumped to a defeat at the hands of Melbourne.

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