Round 5 – Adelaide v Port Adelaide: Port Win Showdown 4,983, Social Media Melts Down

Adelaide v Port Adelaide

May 3rd, 2015

RD 5

Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Nothing stirs emotion in South Australia quite like a Showdown. These titanic battles have been occurring since 1997. It feels so much longer than that. This Showdown had an edge to it. Phil Walsh was coaching in his first for the Adelaide Crows. He’d defected over the summer from Port’s coaches’ box to the hated enemy down the road at West Lakes. Some yelled treachery. Some ground their teeth. Some didn’t care. But most did. Leaving for a club interstate is one thing, but to walk down Port Road and take the reins of Port’s number one enemy was a bitter pill for the Port faithful to swallow. Would life as we knew it be able to continue? Yes – if life continuing as we knew it meant Port eclipsing the Crows yet again in another Showdown.

As hard as Walsh and his charges tried, they couldn’t match Port’s polish in front of goals, or break through Port’s dogged defence with any regularity.

Port Adelaide’s defensive back six were tremendous. Jaspar Pittard is quickly becoming as industrious, hardworking and reliable as his head-band wearing twin Bruce Doull. Jackson Trengove simply refuses to drop a mark. Alipate Carlisle continues his career resurgence of the last few years with another stopping job on the enigmatic, but flighty ‘Tex’ Walker. Unheralded Jack Hombsch and Tom Jonas look every bit as solid as Port’s finest defenders of years gone by Greg Phillips and Martin Leslie. This defence is the rock which Port springboard attacks from.

And it has a midfield capable of smashing games wide open with attacking, risk-taking football. Port didn’t have it all its own way, and played far from their best. But their best today was far better than the Crows. Eddie Betts, (sounds like a pornstar name) was his usual annoyingly efficient self, kicking five goals including the obligatory boundary line show stopper. But Betts alone wasn’t going to get the Crows over the line. Too little from too few at times.

This was Port’s third straight win, and the Crows second straight loss. I was never too great at maths but I suspect a three week form line graph would please me no-end upon viewing right now.

And with another Showdown victory banked, social media emanating out of Adelaide again turned on its charm. Or lack of in the case of one Crows supporter who suggested our fallen Anzac heroes would be turning in their grave. (Not sure he realised Anzac day was last week). Port fans could again taunt their Crows-loving counterparts for leaving the game early in the last quarter. (Photos of lines and lines of gloomy Crows fans leaving Adelaide Oval have been doing the rounds for the last two hours). Crows fans could in-turn wittily reply with “get f***ed”. There’s nothing like a Showdown to bring out the worst in people.

Walsh, an intense and seemingly humourless fellow (he once grabbed a prominent Adelaide football journalist around the throat at the Port Adelaide Best & Fairest dinner – possibly for stealing his entrée but most likely for daring to be critical) will have to lick his wounds and regroup for Showdown two of 2015 later in the year. Ken Hinkley, a demi-God now at Alberton can smile and plan ahead for West Coast in one weeks’ time. And the good folk of social media land can re-charge their batteries (and brain cells) and plan the next pointed barb. Showdowns hey..meh…

 

CHRIS MICHAELS

@cargoartmag

Comments

  1. Dave Brown says

    Too little from too few is around the mark, Chris. Power must be the most efficient team going around

    As one of those disaffected Crows people on social media, Port people might want to make sure the Power actually wins something before petitioning the PM for a knighthood for Ken.

  2. There’s definitely as many Crow peanuts and Port ones.

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