ADELAIDE has kept its finals hopes on track and increased the pressure on Essendon coach James Hird with a 112-point thumping at Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Crows trailed early but powered clear on the back of a 12-goal run to cruise to the 27.9 (171) to 8.11 (59) victory.
The win temporarily lifts Adelaide into sixth place and crucially gives it a handy buffer on percentage over Geelong.
Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane dominated through the midfield, while Eddie Betts booted five and and Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins added three each.
The Bombers had plenty of the ball, but again struggled to kick goals with the disappointing result once again leaving Hird searching for answers.
More to come ESSENDON 4.3 4.6 6.10 8.11 (59) ADELAIDE 3.3 9.6 16.8 27.9 (171) GOALS
Essendon: Hooker 2, Dempsey, Laverde, Hibberd, Edwards, Zaharakis, Melsham Adelaide: Betts 5, Dangerfield 3, Walker 3, Jenkins 3, Sloane 2, Cameron 2, Lynch 2, Lyons, Van Berlo, Atkins, Knight, Crouch, Smith, Jacobs BEST
Essendon: Hooker, Edwards, Myers, Goddard Adelaide: Dangerfield, Betts, Lynch, Sloane, Laird, Crouch, Jacobs INJURIES
Essendon: Myers (back), Giles (ankle) Adelaide: Nil SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Jake Melksham replaced Kyle Langford in the third quarter Adelaide: David Mackay replaced Jake Lever at three-quarter time Reports: Nil Umpires: Fisher, O'Gorman, Nicholls Official crowd: 25,914 at Etihad Stadium
