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AAP
AAP
Sport
Steve Larkin

Walker stars as Adelaide beat Richmond

Taylor Walker has led from the front in Adelaide's AFL home win over Richmond. (AAP)

Key forward Taylor Walker has booted five goals to inspire Adelaide to a 19-point AFL win against Richmond.

Walker's haul and four goals to his teammate Elliott Himmelberg underpinned the Crows' 15.11 (101) to 12.10 (82) victory on Saturday at Adelaide Oval.

Walker slotted four goals in a dominant first half as the Crows joined Richmond with two wins from five games this season.

Adelaide's Ben Keays (31 disposals), Rory Laird (26 touches, one goal) and Matt Crouch (26 possessions) were big midfield ball-winners.

And Crows defenders Brodie Smith (28 possessions) and Tom Doedee (22 disposals) were also instrumental in the victory.

Richmond hit the front in the third quarter but couldn't capitalise, with their skipper Trent Cotchin a standout with 24 possessions.

Dion Prestia (27 touches) was also busy for the Tigers with forwards Jack Riewoldt, Tom Lynch, Jason Castagna and Liam Baker kicking two goals each.

But Richmond had no answer for Adelaide's former captain Walker, who was dominant in his second game since serving a six-match racism ban.

Walker booted three goals in a tight first term -- a long bomb from an acute angle after the siren gave Adelaide a 4.1 to 3.1 quarter-time lead.

Just one minute in the second term, Walker won a free kick and converted, followed by fellow forwards Shane McAdam and Himmelberg then kicking two goals each.

Adelaide led by 24 points 21 minutes into the second term.

But evergreen Tigers Cotchin and Riewoldt scored vital late goals to keep the visitors in touch before Walker's first half ended with a snap at goal which missed.

The Crows led 9.4 to 6.3 at halftime and their advantage increased to 25 points early in the third term when a Himmelberg shot was cleared after a review.

But Richmond then rallied: in about seven minutes they piled on four consecutive goals to take the lead.

The Tigers burst was triggered by veterans, with Shane Edwards and Riewoldt scoring a goal each and Baker booting two.

Yet the visitors were able to hold the lead only briefly, with the Crows responding with three unanswered majors including a Walker snap and another from Himmelberg.

Adelaide held a 14-point buffer at three quarter-time.

And the hosts' impressive first-year forward Josh Rachele increased the margin to 21 points with a goal four minutes into the last quarter.

A 15-minute goal-less period followed, including Crows skipper Rory Sloane limping off with a leg injury, before Rachele again took the spotlight -- he threaded a set-shot to put the Crows 31 points up and out of danger.

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