AS A brave young girl wearing a Demons scarf walked into the hostilities of AAMI Stadium yesterday, a Crows fan declared she would be better off turning around and going home.

Sure enough, Adelaide won, by 76 points, but it was supposed to — it was fourth, and Melbourne was, and remains, bottom. But a waste of time?

Probably not, because amid this return to gloom there were some moments of encouragement that Melbourne really is improving.

The problem is that every time it moved forward yesterday, like it took giant strides against Fremantle, it took twice as many backwards.

There were times when Dean Bailey's game plan looked like testing Adelaide, but blatant ball-handling errors — often by the more experienced players who should know better — turned over the ball quickly, resulting in a goal to the opposition.

The Crows made clangers, too, but the difference was they didn't allow their confidence to wane, and turn their performance into a scrap.

The overwhelming factor to come out of this contest was that Adelaide is definitely a worthy top-four side, not so much because of the margin or the manner in which it dominated a bottom side, but because of its new-found power in the forward line.

Rarely has Adelaide had five players who kicked three or more goals, headed by the energised Brett Burton, who booted five goals and probably flew higher than ever before to take a mark. It had nine individual goal-scorers, recorded 40 scoring shots, and had 58 inside-50s.

And not since the halcyon days of Tony Modra taking big marks and kicking goals has Adelaide had such a tough player to stand than Kurt Tippett, one of the most exciting young players in the competition.

Adding to the Crows' dominance were young and classy onballers Nathan van Berlo, Bernie Vince, Jason Porplyzia, and in between defensive actions, Chris Knights.

Another impressive feature was Adelaide's flexibility, which has developed superbly over the season. Coach Neil Craig took Graham Johncock out of the last line of defence, where he was brilliant, and threw him on to the ball, where he remained a high-impact player. Andrew McLeod was involved in the swap, and there were many other effective rotations.

The goal-power and the flexibility, and of course its highly disciplined defence, has made Adelaide a vastly improved side compared with last year.

Adelaide led by 37 points at half-time, and when it started the third term with 1.9, a wave of concern swept the stadium with memories of Melbourne's magnificent revival against Fremantle a fortnight earlier.

The Demons also opened with vigour and spirit in the last, kicking three quick goals, with two from Russell Robertson, who until then had been well held by Nathan Bassett.

But like a good side, Adelaide learned from its previous dismal last quarter against the Kangaroos and responded with seven goals for the term.

Clint Bartram did an excellent job containing McLeod for most of the game, while James McDonald was also effective following Tyson Edwards.

Among other positives for Melbourne were the most impressive performances by Simon Buckley, 21, and Cale Morton, 18. Add the hero against Fremantle, Austin Wonaeamirri, 19, who was reasonable and learned another valuable lesson in his promising career, and there is reason to keep the faith.

If the players don't give up, that young girl wearing the scarf probably won't, either. The wheel of fortune can be cruel in football, but if the Demons learned from yesterday, it will turn, albeit slowly.

ADELAIDE
8.1 12.6 15.15 22.18 (150)

MELBOURNE
4.4 6.5 7.7 11.8 (74)

GOALS Adelaide: Burton 5, Tippett 4, Porplyzia 3, Goodwin 3, Jericho 3, Knights, Vince, van Berlo, Stevens. Melbourne: Morton 3, Robertson 2, Miller, Garland, Moloney, Wonaeamirri, Bartram, Bate.

BEST Adelaide: van Berlo, Vince, Bock, Knights, Burton, Porplyzia. Melbourne: Bartram, McDonald, Jones, Buckley, Morton, Bell.

INJURIES Adelaide: Massie (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Jacky. Melbourne: Rivers (hip) replaced in selected side by Johnson.

UMPIRES Fila, Meredith, Ellis.

CROWD 35,649 at AAMI Stadium.

THE UPSHOT With the Saints losing, the Crows virtually go two wins clear in fourth spot. Melbourne stays bottom — but for a while looked as if it had improved.

TALKING POINT The new interchange rule came under scrutiny again when the Crows were left with five on the bench, but coach Neil Craig blamed a lack of communication concerning his players rather than the system.

HOT AND COLD Brett Burton could not be stopped, kicking five goals and assisting with at least three others. The whole Melbourne forward line was cold for most of the game.