Adelaide coach Neil Craig reckoned his side's first half was the worst football they had played in years.

His Sydney counterpart Paul Roos said he had never been so happy after a loss.

A topsy-turvy AFL contest reached a predictable conclusion at AAMI Stadium as Adelaide maintained their climb up the ladder - and utter dominance of the struggling Swans - with a fighting 16-point victory.

Sydney led by as much as 25 points soon after halftime, before the Crows fired into action in the third term and eventually won 12.13 (85) to 10.9 (69) in front of 38,064 supporters.

Craig accused his men of being "lazy" in the early exchanges, before righting the ship.

"I thought our first half was the worst we've played for years, we were non-competitive, we were lucky to be in the game," he said.

"We were playing lazy, non-competitive footy, it's not like us, we don't want to do it, our supporters don't like it and it's not the way we want to be seen."

Defeat slipped Sydney to 5-8 for the year and with a trio of tribunal headaches for reported Swans Barry Hall, Heath Grundy and young tall Jesse White.

Hall was booked for striking Ben Rutten as the three-quarter-time siren blew, while White and Grundy were cited for high contact on Bernie Vince and Nathan Bock respectively.

Adelaide have now won their last six matches against the Swans.

They were well served by the brilliant Jason Porplyzia (four goals), Bernie Vince, Scott Thompson, and ruckman Brad Moran played their part, while Kurt Tippett (two goals) was again threatening as a tall target.

Brett Kirk, Ryan O'Keefe and Rhyce Shaw all battled manfully for Sydney and Hall kicked four goals.

Sydney were more desperate early on and tactically sharp in getting numbers back quickly to counter-act the Crows' forward movement.

Hall enjoyed a strong first half, Kirk, Shaw and Adam Goodes led the midfield and ex-Crow Martin Mattner provided plenty of run out of defence.

Clear by 19 points at the main break, the visitors continued on their merry way when Kirk waltzed in to goal for his side's seventh.

But instead of killing the game, the Swans allowed Adelaide back into the contest with a handful of errors.

Appearing fitter and winning a greater share of ball out of the middle, Adelaide gobbled up the advantage Sydney fought so hard to create in the space of 15 minutes.

Andrew McLeod's inspired dribble goal deep in time-on meant the Crows took a seven-point lead into the final change.

Hall's fourth cut it back to two, but the Crows ran the game out stronger to seal the four points.

Roos refused to concede an end to his side's top eight chances for 2009 and said there had been plenty to like about a plucky performance by a young Swans 22.

"It's probably the most pleased I've been after a losing game," he said.

"Given the team we presented today, given our performance against a very good team."

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