Lights Out

It was a moment frozen in time.

The only light at Glenelg Oval was coming from a small battery-powered electronic scoreboard on the north-eastern outer fence. And look at the score.

The ground had been battered on a dark and stormy night and just as the Tigers-Crows Round 4, 2015 clash reached a thrilling final-quarter climax it became even darker. A power failure caused by a violent storm resulted in all the lights for kilometres around the ground going out – with scores level at the 12.55 mark of the final quarter, leaving players in the dark and in a state of confusion.

“It was an amazing finish,” Crows SANFL captain Ian Callinan said. “It was just bizarre. I was going to kick the ball off the ground and I was probably lucky I didn’t kick my opponent’s head off when the lights blew.”

Tigers full forward Clint Alleway watched in amazement as the ball disappeared from his view and the game came to a sudden standstill.

“It was like someone had pulled the plug on the electricity supply,” he said. “At first I thought it might have just been a glitch and the lights would quickly flick back on but after standing in the dark there for a while, I realised it was a bit more serious.”

The Crows, kicking with a strong wind, had levelled the scores a minute earlier after fighting back from 20 points behind at three-quarter-time.

Teaming rain and high winds made conditions so bad in the second quarter – a goalless term – play resembled rugby union’s rolling maul. But with eventual Adelaide AFL club champions, midfielder Matt Crouch and ruckman Reilly O’Brien, in good form, the Crows kicked three unanswered goals and looked poised to run over the top of the home side.

However, within a minute of Adelaide’s Nick Mott booting his second major to tie the scores, the lights went out.

Players and officials were ushered from the ground and headed to the changerooms where the only lights came from mobile phones.

“It seemed like we were stuck in there, pretty much in the dark, for an eternity,” Alleway said. “It was probably only for half-an-hour but when you are in the dark waiting for something to happen, time goes very slowly. There was a lot of confusion around it all before we got word the game might not continue.”

Adelaide players watching from the stands were quick to jump on social media.

“I have never seen something this bizarre in my whole life. Lights have gone out at the Bay,” Matthew Jaensch tweeted as the players tried to keep warm downstairs thinking they would have to return for the final 15 minutes of the game.

After 30 minutes, with the lights failing to come back on, scores were deemed to be final, resulting in the Crows’ first SANFL draw.

Adelaide coach Heath Younie, said: “Footy is an unpredictable game and we certainly found that out.”

Alleway said some Crows fans trotted out the ‘conspiracy theory’ line. “There was a bit of talk because the Crows were coming so hard at us we orchestrated for the lights to go out,” he said.

From Ton Of Tigers, Glenelg’s Centenary history.