THE SYDNEY Swans have overcome injuries to two key players to come away with a courageous 10-point win over Port Adelaide at the SCG on Thursday night.
Already without Kurt Tippett and Lance Franklin due to suspension, the 2014 grand finalists lost Gary Rohan to a hamstring injury and Ted Richards to a head injury after he hit the ground hard in a tackle.
Five talking points: Sydney Swans v Port Adelaide
But the Swans responded in magnificent fashion – led by ball magnet Josh Kennedy, a season's best three goals from Sam Reid and a vintage performance from Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes - to record a 14.10 (94) to 12.12 (84) win in front of 28,316 fans.
While outplayed for large portions of Thursday night's contest, the Power hung in and took the lead at the five-minute mark of the third term through a Chad Wingard goal.
The visitors, desperate to keep their season alive and make a charge for the finals, had their opponents under pressure and were pressing hard when Jay Schulz tackled Richards and slung him to the ground.
The incident, which will be looked at by the Match Review Panel, stopped play for five minutes as medical staff attended to Richards and a motorised cart took him off the field.
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It was the Swans that adjusted best to the interruption, piling on four straight goals after play resumed to take a 24-point edge at three-quarter time.
Goodes was responsible for two of those goals, including a contender for goal of the week when the 35-year-old gathered the footy on centre wing and showed the Power a clean pair of heels with a blistering turn of speed to run inside 50 and kick an inspirational goal.
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Sydney Swans coach John Longmire said the gutsy win was one of the club's best of the season.
"I thought our leaders and senior players in particular really stood up at that moment in time," Longmire said after the match.
"The momentum could have gone against us but we were able to wrestle it back.
"There was a 10-minute period there where we just fierce with our tackle and our pressure and that really flowed onto our ability to hit the scoreboard."
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley also referenced the moments after Richards was hurt, saying his players "didn't stand up" once play resumed.
"It is Sydney being willing to fight harder," Hinkley told reporters after the match.
"We weren't prepared to do that."
Swans by 11 points in the third after Adam Goodes turns back the clock #ohwhatafeeling #AFLSwansPower http://t.co/NgHTMGcw4T
— AFL (@AFL) July 2, 2015
The Power summoned one last effort in the final term to narrow the margin to 11 points with less than six minutes to go, but the exhausted and injury-depleted Swans managed to hang on.
The result moves the Swans to a 10-3 win-loss record and keeps the club in the hunt for a top-two finish, while the Power drop to 5-8 and face a huge task to return to the finals for a third consecutive season.
Kennedy turned in a best-on-ground effort with 33 touches, two goals (both in the opening term) and eight tackles, while Goodes ended with three goals and 11 possessions.
Port Adelaide, which had its pre-match preparations disrupted by the late withdrawal of Jackson Trengove due to "flu-like symptoms", was led by Robbie Gray, who had 32 touches, while Chad Wingard kicked three goals. Justin Westhoff was also excellent with 22 disposals and two goals.
The Swans, with a line-up with nine players with 60 games or fewer on Thursday night, had nine individual goalkickers.
After an even opening term that left the sides level at 4.1 at quarter-time, the home side turned the screws on the Power in the second period to lead by 11 points at the main break.
The Swans travel to Brisbane to take on the Lions next Sunday, while Port hosts Collingwood at Adelaide Oval in the final Thursday night fixture for 2015.
Ted Richards is being taken from the ground on the stretcher after a tackle http://t.co/diVlKEKVka
— AFL (@AFL) July 2, 2015
SYDNEY SWANS 4.1 8.5 12.7 14.10 (94)
PORT ADELAIDE 4.1 6.6 8.7 12.12 (84)
GOALS
Sydney Swans: Reid 3, Goodes 3, Kennedy 2, Parker, Nankervis, Jetta, Jack, Hannebery, Cunningham
Port Adelaide: Wingard 3, Westhoff 2, Krakouer 2, Hartlett, Gray, Boak, Ah Chee, Schulz
BEST
Sydney Swans: Kennedy, Goodes, Reid, Jack, Mitchell, Hannebery, Parker
Port Adelaide: Gray, Wingard, Westhoff, Hartlett, Hombsch, Krakouer
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Rohan (hamstring), Richards (head)
Port Adelaide: Jackson Trengove (flu) replaced in the selected side by Paul Stewart
SUBSTITUTES
Sydney Swans: Gary Rohan replaced by Harry Cunningham in the second quarter
Port Adelaide: Alipate Carlile replaced by Andrew Moore at three-quarter time
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stevic, Ryan, Pannell
Official crowd: 28,316
The siren has sounded to end Q4.
While not as prolific in the second half, Josh Kennedy was superb for the Swans with 33 disposals, 17 contested possessions, 11 clearances, nine inside 50s, eight tackles and two goals.
Dan Hanneberry had an outstanding second half on the way to recording 34 disposals, 14 contested possessions, seven tackles, six inside 50s and a goal.
BEHINDPower (Rushed)
GOALPower (Jay Schulz)
BEHINDSwans (Josh P. Kennedy)
Sydney has outscored Port Adelaide 7.5.47 to 3.7.25 from stoppages. The Swans have scored six goals from ballup clearances. The points differential from clearances is Sydney's fourth best this season.
BEHINDPower (Travis Boak)
GOALSwans (Harry Cunningham)
GOALPower (Travis Boak)
The Power are throwing everything at the Swans this quarter, leading inside 50s 16 to four, contested possessions 31 to 25 and uncontested possessions 43 to 31, yet still trail Sydney by two goals.
GOALSwans (Lewis Jetta)
BEHINDPower (Matthew Broadbent)
GOALPower (Robbie Gray)
Port Adelaide leads the inside 50 count for the quarter nine to three and, like the third quarter, kicked the first two goals of the final quarter.
GOALPower (Hamish Hartlett)
BEHINDPower (Rushed)
Sydney has scored 4.0.24 from chains launched in its defensive 50, its second highest return from this zone for the season. Three goals have come from intercepts and one from a kickin.
BEHINDPower (Travis Boak)
BEHINDSwans (Rushed)
BEHINDSwans (Toby Nankervis)
Q4 is now underway.
The siren has sounded to end Q3.
Sydney's pressure has been fantastic, laying 66 tackles to Port Adelaide's 52 after three quarters. The Swans average 71 tackles per game, ranked fourth in the competition.
Despite losing the uncontested possession count 47 to 78, the Swans outscored the Power 4.2.26 to 2.1.13 for the quarter.
The Swans have now had the last eight inside 50 entries of the match and have had the ball in their half of the ground for 88 per cent of the time in the last 10 minutes.
GOALSwans (Adam Goodes)
Port Adelaide InterchangeTravis Boak off due to an injury.
The Swans have steadied with the last five inside 50 entries, kicking three goals as a result. The Swans have enjoyed 77 per cent time in forward half in the last 10 minutes of game time.
GOALSwans (Dan Hannebery)
BEHINDSwans (Josh P. Kennedy)
Port Adelaide has dominated the quarter in most statistical areas, but the Swans have 2.1.13 from just three inside 50 entries, the same score for the quarter as the Power.
GOALSwans (Adam Goodes)
GOALSwans (Kieren Jack)
Both of Port Adelaide's goals this quarter have come from Sydney turnovers. They have scored 5.3.33 from this score source for the match.
Sydney Swans InterchangeKieren Jack replaces Ted Richards and is possibly out for the game.
The Power have recorded seven of the first eight forward 50 entries for the quarter and lead uncontested possession for the quarter 32 to six, by virtue of 23 handball receives to six.
BEHINDPower (Robbie Gray)
Port Adelaide has a kicking efficiency of 81 per cent for the quarter, the Swans are kicking at just 40 per cent.
BEHINDSwans (Sam Reid)
GOALPower (Chad Wingard)
The Power have the first four inside 50 entries of the quarter, lead the disposal count for the quarter 37 to 12 and have kicked the first two goals of the quarter.
GOALPower (Nathan Krakouer)
Port Adelaide has started the third quarter quickly, leading the uncontested possession count 21 to five for the quarter.
Q3 is now underway.
The siren has sounded to end Q2.
The Swans have already taken 11 marks inside 50, right on their season average, kicking 6.3.39 from marks. In contrast, the Power have take just five marks inside 50, kicking 2.3.15 as a result.
Sydney leads uncontested possession by 22 at half time. The Swans are ranked No.1 for uncontested possession differential, averaging 62 more per game than their opposition.
Three of Sydney's four goals in the second quarter were the result of Port Adelaide turnovers. Both of Port Adelaide's two goals for the quarter were from stoppages.
BEHINDPower (Jarman Impey)
BEHINDPower (Robbie Gray)
BEHINDSwans (Lewis Jetta)
BEHINDSwans (Josh P. Kennedy)
GOALPower (Chad Wingard)
The Swans average 11 marks per game inside 50. Tonight, without Franklin and Tippett who average five per game between them, Sydney already has nine marks inside 50.
GOALSwans (Luke Parker)
GOALPower (Brendon Ah Chee)
BEHINDPower (Robbie Gray)
BEHINDSwans (Dan Hannebery)
Two of Sydney's three goals this quarter have been launched from its defensive 50, one from a kickin and one from an intercept. The Swans average 14 points per game from chains launched from their defensive 50, ranked ninth.
The Swans have a kicking efficiency of 79 per cent this quarter compared to Port Adelaide's 53 per cent. In contrast, the Swans went at 63 per cent in the first quarter and the Power went at 77 per cent by foot.
GOALSwans (Sam Reid)
In the absence of Franklin and Tippett, Sam Reid has already kicked a seasonbest three goals tonight. Reid's career-high is six goals against Brisbane in Round 15, 2012.
Sydney Swans InterchangeHarry Cunningham was substituted into the game for Gary Rohan.
BEHINDSwans (Adam Goodes)
BEHINDPower (Rushed)
Sydney Swans InterchangeGary Rohan off due to an injury.
Josh Kennedy has continued his early dominance with gamehighs of 16 disposals, nine contested possessions, six clearances and two goals so far in the game.
Sydney has kicked six goals from 15 forward 50 entries, a strike rate of 40 per cent, well up on the 24 per cent they have averaged for the season.
GOALSwans (Toby Nankervis)
BEHINDPower (Chad Wingard)
GOALSwans (Sam Reid)
Q2 is now underway.
The siren has sounded to end Q1.
Despite most statistics being even for most of the quarter, the Swans took control late, leading contested possession 42 to 35, and uncontested possession 51 to 43 at quarter time.
The Swans enjoyed territorial dominance in the second half of that quarter, having eight of the last 10 inside 50s for the quarter and enjoying 88 per cent time in forward half in the final 10 minutes of the quarter.
BEHINDSwans (Gary Rohan)
Both sides are bringing the physical pressure in this first quarter with the Swans having laid 27 effective tackles and the Power 26. The AFL average for tackles per side in a game is 66 tackles.
Port Adelaide InterchangePaul Stewart replaces Brendon Ah Chee due to the blood rule.
GOALPower (Justin Westhoff)
GOALPower (Nathan Krakouer)
GOALSwans (Josh P. Kennedy)
In the absence of Franklin and Tippett the Swans have turned to Josh Kennedy to provide some scoring, with the Swans midfielder already amassing nine disposals, four contested possessions and two goals to start the game.
All 3.0.18 of Sydney's scores have come from stoppages. All of Port Adelaide's 2.1.13 have come from Sydney turnovers.
GOALSwans (Josh P. Kennedy)
BEHINDPower (Jay Schulz)
Both teams are using the ball well by foot at this early stage, the Power kicking at an efficiency of 81 per cent and the Swans at an efficiency of 74 per cent. The AFL average is 65 per cent.
GOALPower (Justin Westhoff)
The Swans have two goals from two forward 50 entries, both coming from clearances.
GOALSwans (Sam Reid)
GOALPower (Chad Wingard)
Chad Wingard is looming as an early target for the Port Adelaide forward line. He has been the target of two of the Power's first three inside 50 entries and kicked a goal as a result of a run down tackle from the entry where he wasn't the target.
GOALSwans (Adam Goodes)
Q1 is now underway.
The Swans have conceded just 22 points from kickin chains this season, the fewest of any side.
The Power concede 45 clearance wins per game to their opposition, the highest number in the competition, with their opposition generating 42 per cent of their scores from clearances, the second highest percentage conceded from this score source.
The Swans concede fewer than nine marks per game to their opposition inside the forward 50 this season, ranked No.1 in the competition. The Power concede right on nine marks per game, ranked third.
Since Round 7, Sydney has won 62 more uncontested possessions per game than its opposition, ranked No.1 over the time period. Port Adelaide is ranked second, averaging 30 more uncontested possessions per game than its opposition over the time period.
Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection. Tippers choice is currently Swans 83.4% and Power 16.6%.
Changes for Power Ins: P.Ryder, P.Stewart Outs: K.Mitchell, J.Trengove
Changes for Swans Ins: M.Pyke, T.Nankervis, D.Towers Outs: T.Derickx, L.Franklin, K.Tippett
Welcome to SCG for the Sydney Swans v Port Adelaide Round 14 clash.