Round 17 SANFL Snapshot – Sunday

Adelaide ramped up the pressure in pursuit of the Hostplus SANFL League minor premiership with an impressive 40-point win against Woodville-West Torrens at Maughan Thiem Kia Oval.

Now sitting second with just one win and 0.8 per cent less than front-runner North Adelaide, the Crows now find themselves in the box seat for the week’s rest with matches against non-finalists Central District and Port Adelaide to come.

In contrast, the Eagles face a tough ask to scrape into fifth spot as it now prepares for an early Elimination Final against fifth-placed Sturt at Oval Avenue next week.

Lose to the Double Blues and the reigning premier’s quest for an historic three-peat of flags will come to an end.

After starting brightly against the Crows, the Eagles trailed by just four points at the main change when classy veteran Matt Goldsworthy nailed his set shot after the half-time siren.

But any momentum Jade Sheedy’s charges built was snuffed out in the third quarter as the Crows set up their victory by booting 4.4 to the hosts’ 1.3.

Adelaide then gained valuable percentage in its chase for the week off in the major round, banging on another half-a-dozen majors as Lachlan Gollant (three goals), Fisher McAsey (three goals), Brayden Cook (two goals) and James Rowe (two goals) hit the scoreboard.

Even being down a rotation for the second half with SANFL debutant Josh Rachele sidelined by injury, the Crows had plenty of contributors as Matt Crouch racked up a match-high 42 disposals and eight clearances.

Smooth-mover Lachlan Sholl finished with 35 disposals while captain Matt Wright, playing as a rebounding defender from the kick-ins, found plenty of the ball with 31 touches and a goal.

Emerging midfielder Zac Taylor was another major positive for the Crows with his ball use and elusiveness a feature in collecting 24 disposals, seven clearances, seven clearances and a goal.

Woodville-West Torrens’ Riley Knight worked tirelessly for his 35 disposals and six tackles while former Bombers Dylan Clarke (28 disposals, six tackles) and Kobe Mutch (27 disposals, six tackles) were prominent, the former kicking a classy set shot from the boundary in the first term.