Eddie Betts stars as Crows beat Eagles

Adelaide forward Eddie Betts booted five goals as the Crows unleashed a final-quarter blitz to cruise past the Eagles.

Eddie Betts for the Adelaide Crows

Adelaide's Eddie Betts booted five goals to help lift the Crows to a 29-point win over West Coast. (AAP)

Eddie Betts produced a trademark masterclass as Adelaide came from 26 points down to post a 29-point win over West Coast in Saturday night's AFL clash at Domain Stadium.

The Eagles appeared to have the game in the bag after Elliot Yeo's goal midway through the third quarter gave the home side a 74-48 lead.

But a five-goal haul to Betts inspired Adelaide to victory, with the Crows booting the last eight goals of the match to secure the 15.15 (105) to 11.10 (76) win.

The result improved Adelaide's record to 8-4 heading into their bye week.

West Coast's (7-5) first home loss since round 19 last year saw them slip two wins adrift of fourth spot.

The Eagles won all six of their previous home games this season by an average of 68 points.

But this match was the first time they'd hosted a bona fide finals outfit - and they came up well short.

Betts was critical in the result, with the former Blue snaring some big marks and kicking some opportunistic goals to keep Adelaide within striking distance.

West Coast headed into the final quarter with a 12-point lead, but Adelaide slammed through six unanswered goals to seal the win and silence the 37,591 home crowd.

The Eagles suffered a double blow before the bounce.

First, defender Eric Mackenzie was ruled out because of illness, gifting Tom Barrass a late call-up.

And the Eagles had to grab their second emergency - Xavier Ellis - from the stands after Sam Butler injured his groin during the warm-up.

Ellis quickly changed into his Eagles gear and made his way to the bench at the nine-minute mark of the opening term.

And when he entered the field of play a few minutes later, Betts already had two goals to his name to give the Crows an 18-4 edge.

Two goals apiece to Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling helped turn the momentum West Coast's way, with the Eagles entering quarter-time holding a 17-point lead.

The second term featured plenty of smothers and crunching tackles as both sides struggled to find clean avenues towards goal.

Crows forward Mitch McGovern copped a mouthful from his older brother Jeremy after dropping two marks, while Adelaide skipper Taylor Walker engaged in a heated exchange with Will Schofield.

Adelaide were generating enough forward 50m entries, but they needed special efforts from Betts and Charlie Cameron to reap the full rewards.

Betts took a speccy above Tom Barrass before nailing his fourth goal.

And Barrass was a step ladder once again when Cameron leaped from a metre back to take a spectacular mark.

The two goals helped spark Adelaide's frenzied finish to the match, with the Eagles no match for the Crows in the final term.

"The difference between 7-5 and 8-4 is not to be overlooked. From a belief view point it helps in terms of the journey we are on," Adelaide coach Don Pyke said.

"The guys now get a real feeling of what they are able to create as a group in any circumstance."

West Coast coach Adam Simpson felt his side rolled over in the final quarter.

"We were disappointing in the last quarter to say the least," Simpson said.

"I didn't really see it coming.

"I think we had three inside 50s in the last quarter. The stats blow you away."


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Source: AAP


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