Port Adelaide Power have beaten the Richmond Tigers 20.12.132 – 11.9.75 in the second Elimination Final at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Blowing the Tigers off the park with a record-breaking 8-goal-to-1 first quarter, Port Adelaide controlled the match from the centre of the field, running away 57-point winners.
In an impressive team victory, 11 players kicked majors, with 13 tallying 15 or more disposals. Travis Boak was everywhere early in the match, running hard and creating space. Boak was creative with ball in hand and his leadership guided the Power to an emotional win in front of a crowd of over 50,000.
Dustin Martin worked hard throughout the match for Richmond, finishing with 29 disposals, and was a continual pest in the contest for the ball.
The Power did not rest on their huge opening quarter total, following it up with six more goals in the second and pushing 10 goals clear. Five players had two goals each for Port by half-time, and the Tigers could have been forgiven for packing up and heading home early alongside their hundreds of deflated fans.
Port Adelaide kicked the opening three goals in the third quarter, a signal they were going for the jugular. Jake Neade kicked his third goal of the game in a dynamic midfield performance, making it one per quarter for the rising star.
Richmond had their best piece of momentum in the third with more run on the ball and some decisive and accurate kicking. They slipped four goals past the Power, but were still unable to match them in the quarter (4.1 – 5.1).
The defensive supremacy demonstrated by the Port Adelaide Power was best summarised by Richmond’s complete inability to mark inside the forward 50, the Power embarrassing the Tigers 19-0 deep into the third quarter.
To their credit the Tigers did not slow, out-scoring the Power in the fourth 5.4-1.4. They managed to stem the flow of Port Adelaide Power goals and dominance in the midfield, restoring some pride before full-time.
Port Adelaide Club President, David Koch was ecstatic with the result and the support from the fans. He commented, “This is the best stadium in the country… who would have thought at the end of 2012 we [Port Adelaide] would be playing back-to-back home finals?”
Richmond Tigers’ impressive away record and their finals hopes have been shattered for another year. The Power will be hoping to repeat their stellar performance next week against Fremantle during the Preliminary Final in Perth.
