Round 1
	V
Port Adelaide 11.7 (73)		Kangaroos 12.11 (83)

The Kangaroos remain the only side Port Adelaide has not beaten after the Power just failed in their brave attempt to reign in its bogey side in the dying minutes of their round one encounter tonight. The Kangaroos were able to effectively negate the Power's running game for most of the evening but they still managed to make a valiant last quarter comeback only to fall short by 10 points - 12.11 (83) to 11.7 (73).

The Kangaroos opened with the passion and intensity of a side under siege, putting their bodies on the line and silencing the Power faithful with their unexpected dominance in the first quarter. The first half was a scrappy affair with the Roos succeeding in stifling Port Adelaide's prime midfield movers.In a surprise move, new Kangaroos captain Anthony Stevens started on the bench and stayed there for the entire first half as his side opened up a 15-point half time lead. The one shining light in an otherwise forgettable first half for Port fans was the performance of Brett Montgomery, who was brilliant in defense, almost single-handedly keeping the Power within striking distance.

However, the Roos began the second half as they started the first - intense and aggressive - opening up a 39-point lead at one stage in the third term before the Power clawed back two late goals.The inevitable Power comeback came early in the last quarter with Jarrad Schofield providing some inspiration with two goals and the Port midfield finally starting to break the shackles. A Jarrad Schofield goal in the nineteenth minute brought the Power to within two goals and gaining momentum, but after several minutes of scrappy play Glenn Archer put the result beyond doubt with the final goal of the game in his 200th match.

The scenes of jubilation were reminiscent of a premiership victory as the siren blew with Archer and Stevens being chaired off the ground. Mark Williams remained positive in the face of his side's narrow defeat. "Even though we've lost, I thought in the end we probably matched them - if you look at the stats - in a lot of areas. At one stage we could have lost by 10 (goals) so I took some positives out of that result but, overall, obviously we're disappointed. We had quite a few players down (who) had not enough influence on the game.

"Denis Pagan was suitably impressed with his charges, "A lot of people doubted the Kangaroos (but) I reckon the real Shinboner spirit came through tonight again…I was really proud of our guys and privileged to be a part of the Kangaroos today." "We rate Port Adelaide, they've proved they're the best side in the competition preseason…but we came here confident, believing that we could be as hard as anyone at the football and it worked for us today."

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