Swingman Andy Otten says he couldn’t believe his luck when he out-bodied All-Australian defender Harry Taylor to take a miraculous one-handed mark on the goal line against Geelong on Sunday.

Click the play button above to watch Otto’s clever one-hander and look out for the brilliant reaction from Patrick Dangerfield in the crowd

In swirly conditions, Otten edged Taylor under the ball and stuck out his left arm to catch a long bomb from forward Josh Jenkins at a crucial stage in the final quarter.

“I saw Josh have a shot at goal, but the ball just held up in the wind. Harry Taylor was my man and I didn’t want him to mark it,” Otten said of the critical play.

“I gave him a bit of a shove with my body and it’s one of those ones where it just stuck. I couldn’t believe it.

“I was lucky enough to be in the goal square, so I just went back and popped it through.”

The goal – Otten’s second for the game – cut Geelong’s lead to seven points with less than 15 minutes of game time remaining. Taylor almost undid the in-form Crow’s good work when he was awarded a mark 20m out from the Cats goal with 35 seconds left on the clock.

As captain Nathan van Berlo nervously watched the kick with his fingers crossed, Otten was praying his direct opponent wouldn’t kick the match winner.

“I was thinking miss … Taylor better miss this or I’m in a bit of trouble!” Otten said.

Taylor did miss and the Crows held on for a thrilling two-point win.

“It’s unbelievable,” Otten said after the game.

“In every quarter, Sando said ‘We’re going to win this game, we’re going to win’. We took a lot of belief from that and just kept coming.

“We dominated parts of the game without putting it on the scoreboard, so it was good to get some reward for our effort in the last quarter.

“We just wanted to win that game so bad and it showed great character in the group.”

It was the first time this season Otten, more renowned as a third tall defender, has played a full game in the forward line. The 24-year-old started in attack against Collingwood the week prior, but was shifted back into defence when Pies utility Ben Reid went forward and kicked two quick goals.

“I’ve been tried up forward for parts of games during the year. I knew I was going to get a full game up there this week and it was good to get a bit of continuity,” he said.

“We’re starting to learn a bit about each other; reading the play and where your teammates are going to be. I’m slowly adjusting and getting used to it.”

Not for the first time this season, the Crows were inaccurate in front of goal, particularly in the first half when they recorded 4.8 and two out of bounds on the full to Geelong’s 9.2. The fortunes were reversed after half-time.

Adelaide slotted 10.2 in the second half, including five goals without miss in the third quarter, while Geelong squandered two opportunities in the final minute alone.

Coach Brenton Sanderson said he was happy with the output of the Crows forwards.

“The forward line worked pretty well. Matty Wright kicked another four. Tom Lynch got three and Andy Otten and Bernie Vince kicked two each,” he said.

“We had that even contribution which is what is really important to us.”

The win was Adelaide’s seventh of the season, but first against a top-eight side.

“As a group, we’ve been disappointed that we haven’t beaten top-eight teams,” Otten said.

“We wanted to come out and knock off a good team. We match up pretty well against Geelong.

“We wanted them to know it wasn’t going to be easy coming over here and we showed that today.”