Adelaide coach Don Pyke says an ugly 17-point AFL win against Fremantle is a beauty.
Pyke's Crows prevailed 7.9 (51) to 5.4 (34) in a hard-fought Sunday scrap to climb into the top eight for the first time this season.
Adelaide began the round in ninth spot but the gritty triumph lifts them to sixth, one rung below the Dockers.
In a sometimes bizarre game in perfect conditions at Adelaide Oval, only three goals were scored in the opening half - and none at all in the second quarter.
Fremantle's Brad Hill was penalised for throwing a wad of turf, and intense pressure caused numerous skill errors.
But coach Pyke has nothing but praise for his Crows players emerging victorious from the low-scoring pressure cooker.
"That is just the way that game panned out, I don't think you will see that every week," he said.
"It was just the nature of two teams that were putting enormous pressure on around the ball and forcing teams into error or not having any space.
"That is what the game requires at times."
Fremantle led 2.2 to 1.3 at quarter-time before a goalless second stanza when the Dockers didn't score at all.
Adelaide's Hugh Greenwood ended the goal drought in the eighth minute of the third term with a 55-metre bomb and, after Freo levelled, the Crows momentarily broke the shackles with three goals in seven minutes.
The spree included a Lachlan Murphy goal in curious circumstance - he was lining up at goal 30 metres out when Fremantle's Hill, standing the mark, threw a piece of turf at him and copped a 50-metre penalty.
"Probably to the strict letter of the law, you probably shouldn't throw some grass," Dockers coach Ross Lyon said.
The Crows were up 19 points at three quarter-time but Fremantle rallied with consecutive majors to sneak within six points midway through the final term.
But the Dockers then again paid a heavy price for a discipline lapse with Darcy Tucker dropping the ball instead of returning it to Adelaide's Alex Keath, who goaled from the resultant 50m penalty to give the Crows breathing space.
"Sometimes the rub of the green doesn't go your way," Lyon said.
"Our umpires have an incredibly difficult game to umpire, I think they do a very good job - players make more mistakes than umpires."
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