Adelaide have marked milestone midfielder Scott Thompson's 300th AFL match with a 28-point win against Collingwood to rise to second spot on the ladder.
The Crows, with Eddie Betts slotting three goals, triumphed 14.13 (97) to 10.9 (69) in Saturday night's Adelaide Oval fixture.
Thompson, one of Adelaide's favourite sons, was chaired from the field after the victory which puts the Crows behind only pacesetters Hawthorn.
Adelaide booted the initial five goals of the game with a swagger but the Magpies, with Adam Treloar and captain Scott Pendlebury prominent, reduced their deficit to nine points just before halftime.
The home side, before a bumper 50,012 crowd, surged again in the third term to create a 28-point break before Collingwood again responded - they kicked three consecutive goals to shrink the margin to 11 points.
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But steadying goals to Mitch McGovern, and Betts' third after the three quarter-time siren, gave Adelaide a handy 23-point buffer.
The Magpies, with seven wins and nine losses - still three wins outside the top eight - couldn't bridge the gap on the Crows in the last quarter.
Adelaide's Tom Lynch and emerging onballer Jarryd Lyons kicked two goals and dependable Daniel Talia was superb in defence.
Onballers Rory Sloane (27 disposals) and the Crouch brothers - Brad (29 possessions) and Matt (24 touches) were influential, while the celebrated Thompson gathered 22 disposals.
Collingwood skipper Pendlebury collected 30 possessions, and Treloar (36 touches) and Taylor Adams (32 possessions) were standouts.
Travis Cloke took seven marks and kicked two goals among 17 disposals - his scoring return was matched by teammates Jack Crisp and Levi Greenwood.
Crows coach Don Pyke praised the even spread of contributors in his winning side.
"It was a tough hard-fought contest," he said.
"To Collingwood's real credit they came with a strong contest ... but our guys really dug in."
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley lamented some sloppy skills from his players, who had 20 more disposals than Adelaide yet 10 fewer inside 50m entries.
"We gave most of what we had," Buckley said.
The Magpies meet North Melbourne on Friday night while Adelaide travel to play Geelong next Saturday night.
