Round 16 Hostplus SANFL Snapshot – Sunday

Adelaide has surged into the final five contention with a hard-fought 16-point win against Woodville-West Torrens at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Now with four wins banked from their past five starts, the Crows suddenly sit within reach of fifth spot after drawing level with sixth-placed North Adelaide on six wins and nine losses.

Conversely, the Eagles have now lost their past five matches in succession since defeating the Crows comfortably in Round 10 to leave the door ajar for their rivals to jump into the major round mix.

Matthew Wright’s charges responded to a slow start to earn a six-point advantage at the main break as Josh Worrell showed he is a class above en route to 30 disposals and nine marks returning from a broken arm.

Four behinds in succession to end the third quarter proved costly for the hosts as they made a late charge to trail by three points at the final change.

Adelaide’s Lachlan Gollant then booted the opening goal of the fourth term and when it was followed up by consecutive majors to development players Tate Coleman and Jay Boyle, the visitors looked home.

And when father-son prospect Tyler Welsh nailed a massive 50m set shot from the boundary, the exclamation mark was well and truly placed on the victory for the Crows.

Boyle collected 25 disposals to go with his goal, together with nine tackles and five clearances while Charlie Edwards (21 disposals), Will Hamill (21 disposals) and Harry Schoenberg (20 disposals, one goal) were other strong contributors for the Crows.

The Eagles were a man down for the majority of the contest when star midfielder was stretchered off midway through the first quarter as captain Joseph Sinor picked up the intensity with 29 disposals, four clearances and eight tackles.

Luke McKay finished with 2.4 from his 28 disposals and six tackles while Adam D’Aloia (24 disposals) and Josh Morris (23 disposals, eight marks) battled valiantly for the Eagles.