The Adelaide Crows took their first win in the 2020 AFL season.
The Crows posted a 35-point win over Hawthorn ending a losing streak that has lasted for over a year.
Adelaide finished that season with three straight losses and had a 0-13 win-loss record for this year heading into the clash with the Hawks at Adelaide Oval, but they ultimately ended the 395-day drought with a 12.11 (83) to 7.6 (48) win.
Adelaide brought the intensity from the start of the game against fellow strugglers Hawthorn, which is stuck at 15th with just four wins.
A seven-point first-quarter lead should have been bigger, but the Crows were typically wayward in front of goal, kicking 2.4 in the first term.
The radar was more accurate in the second quarter and Adelaide went into half-time with a 6.6 (42) to 4.3 (27) lead.
The last-placed Crows had only led one other game after two quarters this season, when they were up by nine points against Collingwood in round 11, only for the Magpies to run them down and win by 24 points.
Keen to avoid a repeat of that night, the Crows came out of the long break with back-to-back goals from Ben Keays and Harry Schoenberg.
They never relented and racked up their highest points tally since round one, when they scored 71 in a three-point loss to Sydney.
In a victory dominated by the team’s young guns, it was former captain Taylor Walker who ended the game with his second goal, moving within one goal of Tony Modra’s all-time record of 440 majors for the club.
Highlighting how long it has been between drinks for the Crows, it was the first win for four players — Schoenberg, Keays, Shane McAdam, and Lachlan Scholl — who were all pushed into the middle of the circle during the team song.
They were joined by rookie coach Matthew Nicks, who received the Gatorade shower traditionally reserved for grand final winners.
The victory ensured they would not become the first team to go through a season without a win since 1964 when Fitzroy went 0-18.
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