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Posted: 2018-08-19 02:44:22

Updated August 19, 2018 19:47:52

The Demons confirm a spot in the AFL finals with a heart-stopping win over the Eagles in the west, as the Crows just get home against the Kangaroos and the Bulldogs overpower the Blues.

Demons set for finals after beating Eagles

Melbourne's 12-year finals absence will come to an end after the Demons ensured they will be a part of the September action with a thrilling 17-point victory over West Coast in Perth.

Eagles forward Jack Darling lasted just 10 minutes before being forced out of the game with concussion, and the Demons capitalised to post the 16.12 (108) to 14.7 (91) win in warm conditions.

West Coast would have locked up a top-two berth with victory and the Eagles now need to beat Brisbane at the Gabba next Sunday in order to secure two home finals.

If they lose to Brisbane, they could drop as low as fourth.

West Coast led by a point when Mark LeCras kicked truly at the 19-minute mark of the final term. But the Demons booted the last three goals of the match to steal the win.

Jake Melksham booted four goals, while Tom McDonald and Mitch Hannan kicked three goals each.

Willie Rioli booted three goals for the Eagles, but West Coast lacked a good target in attack once Darling went down.

Melbourne entered the match with the unenviable record of being 0-7 against the competition's top-nine sides this season.

The week of criticism seemed to fire up the Demons, who booted the first four goals of the match to race out to a 26-0 lead.

Demons ruckman Max Gawn played an influential role in the early onslaught, and it was 175-centimetre tall Eagles goalsneak Rioli who helped lead the fight-back.

Rioli booted a goal and helped set up two others to close the margin to 10 points by quarter-time.

West Coast swung Jeremy McGovern forward in the second term to cover the loss of Darling, but the Eagles failed to make a dent in the margin.

The third quarter became a topsy-turvy shoot-out, with the Demons opening up a 27-point lead, before West Coast booted four straight goals to close the margin back to two points.

The home crowd went crazy when LeCras put the Eagles in front in the final term, but Melksham's three last-quarter goals were enough to get his side over the line.

Adelaide repels late North Melbourne surge

Adelaide survived a late scare in a tense nine-point win against North Melbourne, which leaves the Kangaroos almost no chance of making the finals.

Midfielder Matt Crouch was outstanding with 46 disposals as the Crows triumphed 12.14 (86) to 11.11 (77) at Adelaide Oval.

The finals chances of the 10th-placed Kangaroos are miniscule - they are a win behind eighth-placed Geelong and ninth-placed Port Adelaide entering the last round.

The Kangaroos need Geelong to lose at home by a massive margin to lowly Gold Coast, Essendon to down Port Adelaide and they must also beat St Kilda by huge amount.

North Melbourne trailed Adelaide by 37 points late in the third term before an unheralded late surge, kicking four goals in five minutes to trail by three points with six minutes remaining.

But Adelaide hung on, with Eddie Betts taking a spectacular high mark with seconds to go and converting after the final siren.

North Melbourne paid dearly for a second-term slumber - after booting the initial two goals, Adelaide kicked eight of the next nine majors to seize control.

The Crows kicked 4.4 to 0.3 for a 28-point half-time lead and extended their lead to 37 points late in the third before North Melbourne's belated rally.

Adelaide's reigning club champion Crouch was superb with 11 kicks and 35 handballs while Rory Sloane, leading in the absence of suspended captain Taylor Walker, collected 29 possessions.

Defenders Rory Laird (41 touches) and Wayne Milera (23 disposals) were influential, while Josh Jenkins kicked three goals and Hugh Greenwood and Mitch McGovern booted two each.

North Melbourne's Trent Dumont was his side's leading disposal winner with a career-high 33, Shaun Higgins collected 29 touches and Majak Daw was stoic in defence.

Kangaroos forward Jarrad Waite slotted three goals and Shaun Atley and ruckman Todd Goldstein two each but spearhead Ben Brown was kept goalless by Andy Otten and now trails Richmond's Jack Riewoldt by two majors in their battle for the Coleman Medal.

Bulldogs fend off Blues challenge

The Western Bulldogs have out-scrapped Carlton, pulling clear in the last quarter for a 17-point win at Docklands.

After nine lead changes, the Bulldogs kicked four goals to two in the last quarter and finally put away the bottom side 10.6 (66) to 7.7 (49).

Only 11 goals were scored in the opening three quarters, despite the closed roof.

The Bulldogs' surge in the last quarter was punctuated by a controversial 50-metre penalty involving their star midfielder Marcus Bontempelli.

As Lin Jong lined up for a shot at goal, Carlton defender Jed Lamb appeared to retaliate against Bontempelli and hit him in the back.

That cost the Blues the 50-metre penalty and Jong kicked the goal as several players wrestled.

The win means the Bulldogs improved one spot to 13th.

Bontempelli and Jack Macrae had big last quarters to help seal the win for the Bulldogs, while veteran defender Kade Simpson starred for the Blues.

Bontempelli had 11 disposals in the last quarter to finish with a game-high 37.

At three-quarter time the Blues had eight more inside 50s and 15 more clearances, but had butchered the ball too often and only led by four points.

Carlton's Paddy Dow kicked the opening goal of the last quarter from a dubious free kick, but the Bulldogs kicked the next four to seal the win.

Teammates mobbed Blues debutant Tom De Koning when he kicked his first AFL goal in the second term.

AFL ladder

AAP

Topics: australian-football-league, sport, australia

First posted August 19, 2018 12:44:22

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