Eddie Betts’s five-goal AFL haul has helped Adelaide thump a sorry Essendon by 112 points.

The Crows continued their campaign for finals football by thrashing James Hird’s side 27.9 (171) to 8.11 (59); Essendon’s second loss by more than a hundred points in seven rounds.

Adelaide needed a quarter to click into gear, but then an hour of dominant football ensured their return to the top eight.

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Between two running goals from Dangerfield in the first and third terms, the Crows kicked 12 unanswered goals to settle the contest.

With the match in the bag, the Crows produced their best ever final term to utterly crush the Bombers with 11 goals.

Betts kicked five goals for the game, with best-afield Patrick Dangerfield, Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins kicking with three each.

Dangerfield and Rory Laird powered Adelaide in the midfield. The Crows attacked relentlessly and finished with 14 different goalkickers.

Time and again the Bombers erred while trying to clear their lines, allowing Adelaide to lay siege to their goal.

The thumping is the latest in a woeful end to the Bombers’ season, with James Hird’s side losing 10 of their past 11 outings.

The Bombers at least started well, with the fit-again David Myers winning the first clearance on his return from injury.

Cale Hooker’s two goals gave Essendon a six-point lead at the first change.

At full-time that lead felt like a fantasy as the Crows took total control.

Goals from Rory Sloane and Jarryd Lyons gave Adelaide the lead, with Essendon well off the pace.

Hooker was playing a lone hand in the Bombers’ forward line but shanked a set shot from 20 metres out to keep them in the contest.

The miss felt like a turning point and so it proved as the Crows ran away with the contest.

Betts and Taylor Walker added to their first-term majors with goals to push the Crows to a five-goal half-time break and crack the match open.

Betts continued the rout with a never-say-die effort inside the goalsquare to open the third term.

Essendon finally arrested the streak through Shaun Edwards but the Crows were far from done.

Playing as if hunting a massive percentage boost, Adelaide slammed on six goals in nine fourth-quarter minutes without response as they cut the Dons to ribbons.

Betts saved his best until last, threading the needle from a set shot outside the boundary line to cap his five-star performance.

In Saturday afternoon’s other game, Drew Petrie bagged four goals to help lead a resurgent North Melbourne to a 37-point victory over St Kilda.

After a shaky start in Hobart, the Roos finished 18.12 (120) to 11.17 (83) to produce their sixth straight win and bound on towards the AFL finals.

The Saints took to Blundstone Arena with a nothing-to-lose attitude, taking the lead early and holding an eight-point margin at quarter time, which they stretched to 20 points by the main break.

In the second phase the lacklustre Roos were largely absent from their 50 and if it hadn’t been for repeated wayward kicking and fumbles, St Kilda would have established a more commanding advantage.

But a nine-goal haul in the third quarter, of which Petrie kicked three, turned the fortune of the Roos who went to the last break with a 25-point buffer.

And Port Adelaide punctured Greater Western Sydney’s finals aspirations with a plucky 21-point victory in a spiteful stoush.

With three games to play, the Giants could slip two wins outside the top eight after Port prevailed 16.15 (111) to 13.12 (90) at Adelaide Oval.

Port onballer Brendan Ah Chee produced a breakout three-goal game and Chad Wingard and Angus Monfries also kicked three as the Power came from behind at three-quarter time to triumph.

Giants forward Jeremy Cameron booted three goals and Rhys Palmer kicked five – and featured in an all-time blooper.

Eight minutes into the game, Palmer was running into an open goal with no Port player within 15 metres.

He bounced once, got to the edge of the goal square, then horribly fluffed another bounce attempt – the ball spilled, allowing Port’s Matthew White to gather ground and apply a score-saving tackle.

– with AAP