Adelaide is knocking on the door of the top five following a convincing 36-point victory over SANFL rivals Central District at My Money House Oval on Saturday afternoon.

The Crows stunned the home side with six goals straight in the first quarter to skip away to a 28-point advantage by the first change.

Both teams traded blows after quarter-time but Adelaide’s fast start ultimately proved to be the difference.

The Bulldogs peppered the scoreboard and finished with 11 more inside 50ms over the course of the afternoon yet inaccuracy prevented them from building any meaningful momentum.

The SANFL Crows led at every change and pulled 42 points clear midway through the third term to effectively end the contest, marching to an eventual 16.5 (101) to 9.11 (65) victory.

Adelaide is now among four teams locked with a 6-4 record after 10 rounds, sitting just mere percentage outside the top five.

SANFL stats: Round 10 v Central District

The Crows shared the load up forward on Saturday with six multiple goalkickers and an even contribution across the park in arguably the team’s most complete performance of the season.

Adelaide's six-goal first term - the Club's best opening quarter of the SANFL season so far - was exactly what coach Ryan O'Keefe was looking for from his playing group.

"We wanted to make our stance on the game straight away and to the boys’ credit they came out and executed perfectly," O'Keefe said.

"Centrals are a good side and a really competitive, hard-working team, and we knew they were going to keep coming. But I thought we played a pretty solid four-quarter game today.

"Next week we’ve got a really tough ask against Sturt. They’re probably the form team of the comp right now. That’s going to be a big challenge."

Tough onballer Scott Thompson continued his strong recent run of form with a season-best 33 possessions along with 10 clearances and two goals. The 34-year-old used his physicality to bully opponents around stoppages and bring his teammates into the game.

 

Paul Seedsman played full minutes in just his second match of the season, finishing with 24 disposals and a team-best six inside 50ms. Teammate David Mackay was just as damaging on the wings with his 26 disposals at 77 per cent efficiency.

The pair relished the wider expanses of My Money House Oval to cut through the Bulldogs' press and regularly launch the Crows forward.

After kicking four goals on return from a hamstring injury last fortnight, Mitch McGovern was held to just one major but still made an impact with several outstanding defensive efforts. The talented 22-year-old also handed off several simple goals to teammates throughout the afternoon.

Riley Knight kicked the first two goals of the game and was a standout in the opening half, finishing with 18 touches and seven marks, while first-year rookie Ben Jarman continues to improve with every outing, collecting 17 possessions including four inside 50ms and two goals in another promising display.

Co-captain Alex Keath enjoyed his return to defence after playing forward for much of the season so far. The 198cm utility took a match-high five intercept marks and went at 100 per cent efficiency with his 16 disposals.

Reliable defender Kyle Cheney was solid yet again across half-back as he continues to hunt his first AFL game of 2017.

Adelaide’s next SANFL match is against reigning premiers Sturt at Peter Motley Oval on Saturday afternoon.

 

ADELAIDE                  6.0   10.3   11.5   16.5 (101)
CENTRAL DISTRICT   1.2   3.6   5.10   9.11 (65)

GOALS
Adelaide:
Knight 2, Himmelberg 2, Thompson 2, Gallucci 2, Signorello 2, Jarman 2, Poholke, McGovern, O’Brien, Gore
Central District: Templeton 2, Butcher, Hoskin, Walter, Habel, Fort, Hannath

BEST
Adelaide:
Thompson, Mackay, Seedsman, Knight, Jarman, Poholke
Central District: Hoskin, Fort, Stephens, Holman, Barmby, Llewellyn

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Central District: Nil