By Katrina Gill

Adelaide has kicked nine unanswered goals either side of the quarter-time break to set-up an emphatic 57-point win over Gold Coast at AAMI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The GC SUNS recorded their historic first win at AAMI Stadium against Port Adelaide in round five, and threatened to cause another upset on South Australian soil in the opening quarter of their clash with the Crows.

Gold Coast kicked the first four goals of the game, including three to skipper Gary Ablett, who amassed 41 possessions and four goals in a masterful display, to take a 25-point lead midway through the opening term.

But in contrast to their uninspiring effort against Melbourne last weekend the Crows responded, outscoring the GC SUNS 18 goals-to-five after the first change to runaway with a 20.10 (130) to 9.19 (73) win.

The GC SUNS, who posted their second-ever win against the Brisbane Lions last Saturday night, experienced a let-down of historic proportions following their first victory over the Power, conceding the highest first-quarter score (15.4 [94]) in AFL/VFL history against Essendon the next week.

Coach Guy McKenna tried to guard his players against similar complacency on Saturday afternoon, demanding they got off to a fast start.

Led by Ablett, the GC SUNS did as asked, dominating the clearances 15-4 for the term.?Ablett was unstoppable, gathering 15 disposals and three clearances to go with three goals for the quarter.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig gave tagger Brent Reilly the task of minding the Brownlow medallist at the opening bounce, and after the game said he was in awe of Ablett's performance.

 "Ablett was outstanding…he took charge of the game in the first quarter," Craig said.

The move of Richard Douglas onto Ablett helped Adelaide to steady late in the term and goals to Ricky Henderson and Kurt Tippett cut the margin to 14 points at the first change.

The Crows lifted their intensity in the second quarter, taking only nine minutes to add another three goals and snatch the lead for the first time.

The onslaught continued, with the home side piling on another four goals and holding the GC SUNS goalless in a quarter for just the second time this season to increase the margin to 31 points at half-time.

Adelaide was relentless in the second half, with young tyro Patrick Dangerfield the chief destroyer.

Dangerfield, who was concussed in the much publicised tackled from Demons midfielder Jack Trengove last week, kicked a personal-best six goals, including four in the second half to ensure the home side went on with the performance.

Influential players
 

Ablett's performance on Saturday afternoon attracted comparisons with his stunning display against Collingwood in the preliminary final last season. On that night, Ablett had 40 touches in a team that was beaten by 41 points. The clash between Adelaide and Gold Coast SUNS was a long way off a final, but the midfielder was superb regardless. Ablett had managed only 1.6 in five games prior to round seven, but rectified his inaccuracy against Adelaide, booting 4.1. 

What it means the GC SUNS showed again how dangerous they can be. McKenna's men couldn't sustain a four-quarter effort, but young players Zac Smith, Sam Day, Tom Lynch and Trent McKenzie all had moments of brilliance and there's little doubt the fledgling team will claim another scalp, or two before the end of the season.

Toyota AFL Dream Team highlight
 

Gold Coast: Ablett flew out of the blocks for Gold Coast, amassing 15 disposals and three goals to boast a staggering 62 DT points by quarter-time. Celebrating his 27th birthday in style, Ablett went on to register a game-high 156 points for the match.

The next four
 

Gold Coast: Bye, Geelong (Metricon Stadium), West Coast (Patersons Stadium), North Melbourne (Metricon Stadium)

What the coach said
 

Guy McKenna (Gold Coast): "Today was always going to be a physical test against Adelaide, we know Neil Craig and his conditioning department push their boys fairly hard. In short bursts I reckon we tend to look good, but they're not conditioned yet as three or four year AFL players. You're not going to do that in one pre-season.? ?We know we are a bit behind their [fitness], and over the course of a game it's our [main] issue. We don't have a normal senior side - a lot of our kids are asked to play like men. that's why we have our peaks and troughs."

Key match-ups

Former teammates Kurt Tippett and Nathan Bock enjoyed a classic one-on-one duel. Bock was used as an attacking defender in his latter years at Adelaide, averaging 22 possessions a game in his All-Australian season of 2008. However, the inexperience of the Gold Coast team has seen him recast as a shutdown defender. Bock finished the game with a mere eight touches, but importantly held Tippett to eight possessions and a goal. 

Adelaide        2.2   9.7   14.10   20.10  (130)

Gold Coast   4.4   4.6   6.13   9.19  (73)

GOALS

Adelaide: Dangerfield 6, Knights 2, Wright 2, Henderson 2, McKernan 2, Douglas, Reilly, Tippett, S. Thompson, Gunston, L. Thompson

Gold Coast: Ablett 4, Smith 2, Lynch 2, McKenzie

BEST

Adelaide: Dangerfield, S. Thompson, van Berlo, Wright, Johncock, Jaensch

Gold Coast: Ablett, Stanley, Harbrow, Shaw, Smith, Lynch

INJURIES

Adelaide: None

Gold Coast: None

SUBSTITUTES

Adelaide: Chris Schmidt replaced by Brodie Smith at three-quarter time

Gold Coast: Liam Patrick replaced by Joseph Daye at half-time

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Margetts, Rosebury, Hay

Official crowd: 36,056 at AAMI Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or its clubs