Adelaide went down to Port Adelaide in Showdown V by 14 points at Alberton Oval.

In a fierce contest, a late surge from the Crows wasn’t enough, as the Power prevailed 5.6 (36) to 2.10 (22) on Saturday night.

Senior Coach Ryan Davis spoke to the media after the match, and delivered the following  key takeaways.

Missed chances prove costly

The Crows recorded 12 more inside-50s than the Power (40-28) and one more scoring shot (12-11) but could not make their crosstown rivals pay on the scoreboard.

Davis said Adelaide’s inability to place any early scoreboard pressure on Port Adelaide proved costly.

“That one stings, when you look back at the stats, everything's green just about in our favour, except for the scoreboard,” Davis said.

“We gave ourselves opportunities, we owned the footy, owned the front half, we weren't able to execute at key moments. 

“I thought we had really good patches of play, but at times we were bested.

“Full credit to Port Adelaide, they were fierce at the contest all day, they took their moments, they took their chances, and they're deserving winners.”

Focus to turn to forward connection

While Adelaide had no shortage of opportunities going inside-50, Davis said the next step for his side was improving its connection between midfield and attack. 

The Crows have consistently generated forward entries throughout the season, but Davis believed better ball use and service to the forwards would help turn those chances into scoreboard rewards.

“I think just our method going forward still breaks down slightly over that mid-forward part of the ground, so that's certainly something that we're going to get to work on,” Davis said.

“We are getting the looks, we are getting a lot of entries, and that's just not just tonight, it's been throughout the season, but we've just got to be able to make sure we connect with our forwards a little bit better, give them better opportunities to hit the scoreboard.”

Davis on the Crows’ late charge

Adelaide was staring at a 28-point deficit midway through the third quarter but managed to reel the margin back in with a late charge.

Goals to Teah Charlton and Caitlin Gould gave the Crows a sniff but the clock won out in the end.

Davis said he was proud of the response.

“When we start playing aggressive, and we start playing with flair, we look really really dangerous with that speed,” Davis said.

“The response from the group across all rounds this year, they've been able to fight right to the end.

“We did leave ourselves plenty to do, but I think it's exciting if we can manage to play that way earlier and take those risks and roll and play on and be a little bit more predictable to our teammates, we'll be better off for it.”

Alice Tentye’s debut

Recruit Alice Tentye made her AFLW debut in Showdown V against the Power and showed plenty of promise.

The midfielder, who joined the Crows as a replacement player ahead of this season, following a rapid rise through the South Australian football ranks, was relentless at the contest.

Tentye worked hard to generate opportunities for the Crows ahead of the ball, pleasing the Senior Coach.

“She’s a tough little competitor,” Davis said.

“I think as soon as she got to the ground there, she had three or four tackles, three or four efforts.

“She almost kicked it to herself, and that's one of the reasons that we picked her.

“She suits this type of game down in the ground, so she should hold her head very high off the performance that she did today.”

The rivalry is real

On-field tensions between Adelaide and Port Adelaide players appeared to boil over at times throughout Saturday night’s match, with players from either side desperate to hold the bragging rights.

Davis said the rivalry was good for the game and the AFLW competition.

“It's a fantastic rivalry, you could see it boiling over there towards the end, but I think that's just what makes this game so great and this rivalry so great,” Davis said. 

“Congratulations to Port Adelaide for winning that. Our girls will be disappointed, but we’ll get to work on the next one.”

Building towards consistency

Adelaide has four minor rounds remaining with games against Richmond, Gold Coast, North Melbourne and Melbourne ahead.

Davis said the team would remain focused on making the most of every opportunity, as it continued to balance its long-term development with the immediate challenges.

“We won't look too much further than the review,” Davis said.

“We’ve got short-term goals, we've obviously got long-term goals, (but) it’s a side that's adjusting their game plan, debuting players, we've got a lot of youth in our side, so there is going to be the ebbs and flows.

“We still have a long-term vision, but we will obviously get stuck into work. We’ve got Richmond next weekend, (and) that's another big game for us. 

“We expect the ups and downs of a new group gelling together and playing the right way, and we've seen flashes over the last couple of weeks of when we get it together, we look really, really good, it’s now just about managing those minutes and making sure that the majority of the game is played how we want it to be played.”