ADELAIDE will meet either St Kilda or Collingwood in an MCG semi-final after smashing Essendon by 96 points in a lopsided elimination final at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

The Bombers made a spirited start but the Crows' superior skill, class, running ability and potent forward structure came to the fore after quarter time, with the final scores 26.10 (166) to 10.10 (70).

Led by Jason Porplyzia (five goals) and Kurt Tippett (four), the Crows hammered through 21 goals to six after the first change to secure their largest finals win and advance to the second week of September for the first time in three years.

The loser of Sunday's qualifying final between the Saints and Magpies will be their opponent.

Bernie Vince overcame some close attention from Bomber Mark McVeigh to gather 28 possessions and a goal. Andrew McLeod (31 possessions), Chris Knights (17 and three goals) and Brett Burton (three goals) were also prolific.

Adam McPhee finished with four goals for the visitors and Brent Stanton battled hard for his 24 touches.

Essendon made a brave call to go into the game without a ruckman as Irishman Michael Quinn replaced Tom Bellchambers: a decision that paid off in the first quarter.

Quinn booted 1.1 from four possessions as the Bombers took it to the Crows in a tight opening term.

Vince kick-started the home side with the first goal of the game, but a brain fade from the Adelaide runner allowed the visitors to respond.

As Angus Monfries prepared for a long shot on goal, the runner ran across the mark to concede a 50m penalty.

The game opened up halfway through the quarter but neither side was able to gain ascendancy.

Adelaide dominated the hit-outs and clearances, but the undermanned Bombers were able to recover the possession and went goal-for-goal with the home team.

Goals to Tippett and Burton were matched by majors to Quinn and Hayden Skipworth, but a late reply from Douglas pushed the Crows six points ahead at quarter time.

The Bombers' resistance was over just three minutes into the second term.
Dustin Fletcher did his best to prevent an Adelaide score by cleverly juggling the ball around the goal post, but his teammates struggled to even execute the basics.

Tyson Edwards capitalised on an errant Essendon handball in defence and that was the start of a Crows onslaught.

Through Ivan Maric, McLeod and Vince, Adelaide established complete dominance at the stoppages and slammed on seven goals without a blemish to establish a 39-point lead at half time.

Patrick Dangerfield and Tippett kicked two each as Porplyzia, Douglas and Knights also got involved.

However, Essendon was able to mount a mini challenge when Vince was put down by Nathan Lovett-Murray in an off-the-ball incident.

The Bombers had six shots on goal in a purple patch of play, but only managed to convert through McPhee and Stanton.

Porplyzia took less than 30 seconds to extend the margin in the third term.

The Crows, who continued to run in numbers, notched up 14 inside 50s to eight for the quarter and built their impressive spread of goalkickers.

Knights and Tippett added to their tallies and Adelaide's unselfishness also saw Maric and Thompson get on the scoreboard.

McPhee, who booted three goals for the quarter, was the only shining light for the Bombers as they fell 61 points behind at the final change.

The Crows kept their foot down in the last quarter, kicking five unanswered goals to secure the emphatic victory and post a score to rival last week's massive 27-goal effort.

Adelaide  4.3  12.4  18.9  26.10 (166)
Essendon  3.3  5.7  8.8  10.10 (70)

GOALS
Adelaide: Porplyzia 5, Tippett 4, Knights 3, Burton 3, Dangerfield 2, Douglas 2, Vince, Edwards, Maric, Hentschel, Thompson, Mackay, Sellar
Essendon: McPhee 4, Skipworth 2, Monfries, Quinn, Stanton, Lovett

BEST
Adelaide: Vince, Tippett, McLeod, Porplyzia, Maric, Thompson, Goodwin, Knights, Douglas
Essendon: McPhee, Stanton, Lovett-Murray, Welsh

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Essendon: Nil

Reports: Vince (Adel) reported by emergency umpire Nicholls for wrestling McVeigh (Ess) in the fourth quarter

Umpires: McBurney, Stevic, Ryan

Official crowd: 50,393 at AAMI Stadium

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.