JORDAN Dawson is the new king of Adelaide after his after-the-siren goal lifted the Crows to a pulsating four-point Showdown victory on Friday night.
Trailing by two points in the dying seconds and surging the ball inside 50 one last time, Lachie Murphy won a free kick for Adelaide following a crude Sam Mayes challenge.
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However, with Murphy helped from the field holding his neck, it was left to the high-profile recruit from Sydney to take the difficult shot.
On a tight angle near the left boundary line and 45m out, left-footed Dawson started the ball to the right of the posts and watched it drift through to secure Adelaide's first win of the year in a 15.6 (96) to 13.14 (92) result.
"Lucky we don't have to draw pictures," Dawson joked to Fox Footy immediately after. "I don't even know what to say."
It was a crushing blow for Ken Hinkley and Port Adelaide who led almost the entire night and still maintained a 19-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
But as they had done for most of the evening, the Crows never gave up, with Elliott Himmelberg kicking two of his four goals in the dying minutes to bring the contest back to life.
Adelaide kicked the game's final four goals to steal the win.
Rory Laird, Matt Crouch and Ben Keays were all prolific in the midfield, while Dawson's heroics capped a magnificent third game for the club.
He won the Showdown Medal for his 25 disposals, two goals and a match-high 664m gained with his incisive kicking.
Port was best served by Travis Boak and five-goal forward Todd Marshall, but will again be left to rue some missed chances around goal.
They are now 0-3 and face an uphill battle to get back into the finals picture.
Boak's late miss
Although he had another magnificent game, Travis Boak could have nightmares over a missed set shot with two minutes remaining. With his team leading by a point, Boak had a chance to almost ice the four premiership points, but his kick from 40m sailed to the left, keeping the Crows in the contest. It was a goal he would normally kick. Boak wasn't the only one to miss late, with Sam Mayes – who was terrific in his recalled game – watching his close-range snap go to the left midway through the final term.
Tale of two young key forwards
For different reasons both teams have had questions asked about their scoring potency to start the season. Missing key targets Charlie Dixon (injured) and Taylor Walker (suspended) respectively, Port and Adelaide have both been begging for a youngster to grab the forward 50 by the scruff of the neck. With five goals, in a variety of ways, Todd Marshall did so for Port, while in just his third career game, 20-year-old Lachie Gollant showed Crows fans there's plenty to work with as he soared for marks and kicked one of his four goals with a spectacular third quarter effort when he roved a contest and threw it on his boot in mid-air.
50m penalties kill both teams
In 10 crazy minutes during the second quarter both teams saw just how costly 50m penalties could be. Sam Mayes was the culprit for Port Adelaide, arguing a free against for a marking infringement that saw the Crows sweep the ball downfield and finish in an Elliott Himmelberg goal. Shortly after in two incidents that were almost carbon copies of one another, Brayden Cook and then Harry Schoenberg ran inside the protected zone to gift goals to Todd Marshall and Scott Lycett.
ADELAIDE 2.1 7.3 10.5 15.6 (96)
PORT ADELAIDE 5.2 9.7 11.12 13.14 (92)
GOALS
Adelaide: Gollant 4, Himmelberg 4, Dawson 2, Cook, McHenry, Schoenberg, Sholl
Port Adelaide: Marshall 5, Georgiades 2, Mayes 2, Drew, Frederick, Lycett, Motlop
BEST
Adelaide: Dawson, Laird, Crouch, Himmelberg, Keays, Shoenberg, Gollant
Port Adelaide: Boak, Marshall, Wines, Burton, Houston, Mayes
INJURIES
Adelaide: Murphy (neck)
Port Adelaide: Skinner
SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Luke Pedlar (unused)
Port Adelaide: Martin Frederick (replaced Skinner at three-quarter time)
