Adelaide’s Brayden Cook has kicked the match-winning goal with 10 seconds left in a one-point victory against arch foe Port Adelaide.
Cook’s stunner on the run delivered the Crows a stirring 11.10 (76) to 11.9 (75) victory at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFL bosses booed after controversial ARC decision
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Cook enters folklore in the closest-ever Showdown with a 45m shot to pinch victory.
Just 35 seconds earlier, young Power forward Joe Berry snapped a left-footer to give his side a five-point lead.
But Cook’s late heroics lifted the Crows to a famous win and a 4-4 win-loss ledger this season.
Port slip into a 3-5 record after another classic fixture of the South Australian rivals full of late drama.
Adelaide halfback Wayne Milera continued his stunning form with 29 disposals, and Jake Soligo (22 touches), Izak Rankine (23, one goal) and Sam Berry (29) were midfield influences.
Ben Keays potted three goals and Josh Rachele and Toby Murray kicked two each, with Riley Thilthorpe (one goal) well held by Port’s Aliir Aliir.
The Power’s prime movers were Zak Butters (30 disposals), Ollie Wines (30) and Jason Horne-Francis (20), while Mitch Georgiades kicked three majors, and Corey Durdin and Berry two apiece.
Controversy twice threatened to mar the result of the game when Adelaide were on the end of a couple of dubious decisions, one from the on-field umpire and another from the ARC.
Soligo thought he had slotted a goal to get the Crows back within seven points mid-way through the third term but had it overturned by the ARC minutes later, despite seemingly inconclusive camera angles to prove it.
The ARC ruled that the ball had gone over the top of the goal post and changed the on-field decision from a goal to a behind.
When the ball next went out of play on the wing, the broadcaster cut to a shot of AFL commissioner Andrew Ireland, CEO Andrew Dillon and footy boss Greg Swann, who had boos rain down on them from the Crows-heavy crowd.
“How can you turn that over with that (evidence)?” Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto said on Fox Sports.
“That’s a little bit crazy. You’ve got to prove that that’s a point.”
Even former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley agreed: “Honestly, I’ve got explanation for you for that, and I don’t believe that’s a turnover decision that they should go with. I don’t think that’s definitive.
“I’d like to ring Swanny right now and say, ‘Mate, what do you think that is?’”
After Ireland, Dillon and Swann were shown on the big screen, Dwayne Russel noted: “And the crowd giving them the reception that they expected.
“And how are the goal umpires now with their confidence, if those are going to be reviewed and overturned off the evidence we just saw?”
The trio of AFL bosses let out an awkward laugh, but would have been relieved when Rankine kicked the next goal just moments later.
After the game, Shaun Burgoyne said the replays weren’t conclusive enough to overturn the decision.
“You’ve got to get that right — when a game is so close, you can’t have a game decided by decisions like that,” he said.
“It’s got to be conclusive.”
The Crows were then denied another goal later in the game, this time in the dying minutes of the last quarter, when Wayne Milera slotted one from 50 but had it disallowed because of a push from Rachele on Logan Evans in the goal square. Replays showed only minor contact, and the Adelaide fans once again erupted with displeasure.
Port, despite having five less inside 50s, held a 3.2 to 1.2 quarter-time lead with Georgiades among their goalscorers.
The Crows lost former captain Taylor Walker to a right hamstring injury but, after goals from Keays and Rachele, drew level with Port at 22 all.
Power acting skipper Butters restored a slender six-point break after nailing a 45m boundary line set shot from a dubious pushing free against Soligo.
Port held a 4.4 to 3.4 halftime buffer with Adelaide’s brilliant halfback Milera (19 touches) and Butters (18) both outstanding.
The Power held a 13-point advantage midway through the third term before the Crows gained traction late.
After a stunner on the run from Rankine, his teammate Keays snapped his second before third-gamer Murray stole the spotlight.
The younger brother of Nick, who was dropped for the game, twice got on the end of Soligo passes and, twice converted clutch set shots.
The Murray retort helped Adelaide establish an eight-point lead at three quarter-time, 8.9 to 7.7, after booting five goals to three for the term.
The industrious Keays highlighted his impact with a third major early in the final term as the Crows went 15 points clear.
And Adelaide appeared home when Thilthorpe, after a shrewd back-handed tap from Rachele, curled a left-footer through for a 21-point break five minutes in.
But like so many Showdowns, there was a dramatic twist.
Georgiades slotted two of Port’s next four consecutive goals – they crept within two points with about six minutes remaining before Berry’s snap gave them a late five-point lead.
But Adelaide frantically pressed forward and Cook delivered the game-breaker in the final seconds.
