Adelaide Crows midfielder Ben Keays reveals regret after Fremantle Dockers defender Heath Chapman’s spoil

Ben Keays has revealed what he could have done different if he had his time again after a defensive moment of brilliance by Heath Chapman denied the Crows midfielder his match-winning moment. After a poor first half, the Crows came out firing in the third and fourth quarters at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, and came within inches of stealing a win in the dying seconds. With Fremantle ahead by just a point, Keays got the ball at a contest and, off just one step, kicked it towards goal. Despite the attention of Nick Murray, Chapman was able to not only get a hand to Keays’ shot, as it went towards goal, he stopped the ball from crossing the line - which would have tied the game. On Monday, Keays said he had a slight regret after reflecting on the passage of play. “I was sort of surging towards goal and put up a bit of a floater so I didn’t get the distance on it,” he said. “Maybe if I could have taken one more step I could have snapped it a lot higher but Heath Chapman was amazing there at the end. “It was only afterwards that I kind of reflected that I maybe could have tried to get a bit more purchase on it. “But at the time it was a stoppage situation and there was a lot of bodies around the footy so it was just get it to goal and hope the forwards could do their best. “Muz (Murray) was there and he nearly helped it through but Chapman was there.” Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said he told Chapman it was “the best spoil I’ve ever seen”. The grandstand finish at Adelaide Oval came after a horror first half showing by the Crows. Littered with turnovers and poor kicking, it prompted senior coach Matthew Nicks to describe it as “atrocious” as he spoke to Fox Footy with the Crows 25-points down at half time. Nicks rev up resulted in the Crows coming out firing in the third and fourth quarters. But Keays said that first half ultimately cost them. “We just went back to playing our way, had forward momentum, were in their face a bit more and we were a lot more direct,” he said. “I think it was just execution from a lot of boys, myself definitely. “I don’t think it was decision making I think our execution was just down, it is hard to coach that out there. “The first half was essentially what cost us, you can go on about the moments in the fourth quarter and whether they cost us but it really comes down to our slow start I think. “That set the tone and we had to chase it from there, we were probably lucky that Freo probably weren’t ahead by more than they were.” On top of the comeback in the third and fourth quarters, a big positive for the Crows was the performance of No. 6 draft pick Josh Rachele. In a showing that already has him as a fan favourite, Rachele kicked five goals and thrilled the Crows crowd at Adelaide Oval in a way they hadn’t seen since Eddie Betts. Keays said the Crows had a special player on their hands. “He is clearly going to be a special player for us,” he said. “He works hard and he is incredibly skilful and I think that is going to hold him in good stead for the rest of his career and hopefully we can help him realise that great potential he’s got.”

Adelaide Crows midfielder Ben Keays reveals regret after Fremantle Dockers defender Heath Chapman’s spoil

Subscribe today.

Everyday Digital

Weekend Papers + Everyday Digital