Adelaide Crows defeat GWS Giants in Manuka Oval AFLW clash

The 24-year-old kicked four goals and set up multiple for her teammates in the 16.10 (106) to 5.7 (37) win at Manuka Oval.

The game was in the balance midway through the third quarter, however the Crows kicked nine-straight majors to turn a 48-36 lead into a 69-point win and extend their unbeaten start to the season.

Danielle Ponter and Niamh Kelly each added two as 11 players kicked goals in the victory. In scoring 106 points, Adelaide became the third team in AFLW history to reach triple figures, set a new club record and fell one-point shy of the AFLW record.

Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke was thrilled with his team's performance and said Jones was reaping the rewards of multiple years of hard work.

"She's an elite talent," Clarke said. "She's got all the skills in the game, great speed and she's worked really hard over the last four or five seasons.

"She's got a really good aerobic base, so late in the game, even though she did cramp a little bit, she's able to run games out and the finishing today was outstanding."

While they fell away in the fourth quarter, it was the most points GWS have scored against Adelaide since the competition's inception in 2017.

They were solid through three quarters and the performance shows Cam Bernasconi's side is on the right track, despite their continued search for a breakthrough win.

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It was a Canberra homecoming to forget for Giants defender Teagan Germech who hobbled off the field with an ankle injury midway through the first quarter.

The 20-year-old grew up in the Central Tablelands before moving to the ACT in 2021 to chase her AFL dream. A stint with the Belconnen Magpies followed and she was picked up by GWS this season.

Germech watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines with her foot in a moon boot and will have scans in the coming days.

"She's really flat," Bernasconi said. "She loved playing back here in Canberra and we'll just make sure we put our arms around her and we'll wait on the scans this week to see how bad it is.

"Fingers crossed it's not too bad and she can make a quick recovery."

The injury came as the Giants fought hard to keep in touch with their high-flying opponents.

The Crows opened the game like an undefeated premiership contender should, kicking the first two goals and jumping out to a 14-0 lead.

GWS, however were efficient inside the forward 50 and goals either side of Germech's injury made it 20-12 at quarter-time.

Fellow Belconnen product Emily Pease cut the gap to two points moments after the break, however the next 10 minutes was all Adelaide.

Three consecutive goals helped the Crows kick out to a 40-19 lead before the Giants finally hit back through Rebecca Beeson with five minutes to play in the first half.

The teams traded goals to close out the period, Adelaide holding a 48-32 advantage at the major break.

GWS controlled the opening 10 minutes of the third quarter, with eight inside 50s to one, however they were only able to come away with four behinds.

Eventually the Crows made them pay, Abbie Ballard converting a tough shot to extend the lead to 18.

Adelaide then kicked two more to close out the quarter and make it 67-37 at the final change.

The Crows totally controlled the fourth term as GWS struggled to maintain the intensity from the first half, much to Bernascconi's disappointment.

"It's deja vu again," he said. "We're really struggling to play out four quarters. It's a trend for us. It's been every single week where we just seem to lose concentration and go away from competing, winning our one on ones and playing to what we're trying to achieve as a group.

"It's pretty disappointing because the last couple of weeks we've shown some growth and improvement and we did again today, compared to the Crows [game] last year [97-1 loss] but we're not satisfied with how we're performing and it's something we need to turn around quickly."

ADELAIDE CROWS 3.2 , 7.6 , 10.7 , 16.10 (106)

GWS GIANTS 2.0 , 5.2 , 5.7, 5.7 (37)

Goals: Adelaide - E Jones 4, D Ponter 2, N Kelly 2, Y Bonner, D Varnhagen, M McKinnon, R Martin, A Ballard, A Hatchard, C Gould, T Charlton. GWS - C Miller, Z Goldsworthy, E Pease, R Beeson, B Mowbray.

Crowd: 1951 at Manuka Oval.

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