ROUND THIRTEEN
Saturday the 27th of June.

PORT 1.2 4.2 6.4 9.10 (64)
GLENELG 1.1 2.3 3.4 4.4 (28)

For the second week in a row, Glenelg was unable to kick more than 40 points as they went down to Port Adelaide. I was not able to attend, so will leave it to the "Sunday Mail's" Brett Clancy to relate the details of the match. The loss means that it really is crunch time for the Tigers, who must beat West on Saturday at the Bay, to remain in the top five.

PORT MACHINE STRETCHES CLASS GAP.

By Brett Clancy
A hard working Port Adelaide kept a firm grip on top spot yesterday by outclassing Glenelg 9.10 (64) to 4.4 (28) in the AFL curtain raiser at Football Park.
The game was virtually in the bag for the Magpies less than 10 minutes into the third term when Scott Hahn and Andrew Obst slotted through goals to give the premiers a handy 23 - point margin in a low scoring grinding contest.
Port was miserly in defence, dangerous up forward and mobile in the middle against the dogged but ultimately outgunned Tigers.
Magpie captain David Brown (34 possesions ) knocked up getting kicks in the midfield, Julien Wait (24) relished his return from injury and carved up on the wing and, combining in the ruck contests, Brett Chalmers and Daryl Poole made life difficult for the powerful Matthew Golding. Up forward, Bryan Beinke sparked the side with three goals while Damian Sheehan, Trent Ormond - Allen and Jared Poulton led a water tight defence.
"We (Port) are nine and one which looks like we are travelling pretty well but in the last month everyone in the team would agree we have been a bit down," said Bienke.
"We have had guys coming back from injury from the AFL which has probably hurt us a bit, but I think we are starting to get a system coming back." Both teams seemed tentative in ideal conditions and it was not until the 10th minute when Chad Cornes, marked closely by promoted Sheehan and later Tyson Steglien, smothered a badly attempted Port clearance and dribbled through the first goal for the game.
The Magpies after several forays into attack, were rewarded with their first in the 16th minute when Beinke slotted through a trademark opportunist goal when the ball slipped through Brooke Fogden's legs.
And it was Beinke who snapped the deadlock in the second term after the Tigers had contolled play for the first 10 minutes but could only manage one goal. The Crows listed forward , after a close-in goal to Darren Frazer, scored the next two for the Magpies to forge a handy 11 point buffer.
The Tigers, searching for an effective forward, brought burly Damien Gigney into the centre half-forward for benched full forward Brendon Feddema, well held by Stenglien.
Glenelg nailed their first through elusive Matthew Bode in the fourth minute of the second quarter, but would only kick two more goals for the rest of the game. Golding, taking the centre bounces and then moving to centre half-back, was rock solid without swinging the game while midfielder James Byrne improved his output in the second before leaving the field briefly with a leg injury.
The Tigers, badly missing the midfield influence of Matthew Liptak, ploughed into every contest but could not match the magpies' experience and superior skill level.
Port simply had too much fire power, while the Tigers, with only four goals for the game, must lift for next weeks match against West Adelaide or risk losing touch with the leading pack.

BEST PLAYERS: Bode, Golding, Byrne, Carr.
SCORERS: Cornes 1.1, Bode, Hele, Gigney 1.0, Feddema 0.1, rushed 0.2.
INJURIES: None
CROWD: N/A (AFL curtain raiser).

RESERVES: Port 15.18 defeated Glenelg 13.9 (87)
UNDER 19: Port 25.12 (162) defeated Glenelg 9.10 (64)
UNDER 17: Port 21.13 (139) defeated Glenelg 5.7 (37)