‘What a freak': Izak Rankine defies belief with outrageous soccer goal
The Crows were locked in a tight tussle with the Power and needed somebody to take the game over.
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Enter Rankine.
The 25-year-old showed he loves the big stage by getting on the end of a scintillating passage of play by soccering the ball through the big sticks.
Crows ruckman brilliantly fed skipper Jordan Dawson who burst out of the middle and drilled the ball deep inside 50.
Darcy Fogarty wasn't able to haul in the mark with the ball bouncing off his chest and into free space.
Rankine then pounced as he raced into the contest and slotted the ball back across his body for his second straight goal.
'WOW. There it is,' Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.
'The magic man says you can have your Rozee and your Butters, when it's on the line I'm going to step up and provide something special in the Showdown.'
Fans watching on couldn't quite believe what the Crows star had just produced in a clutch fourth quarter moment.
One fan wrote: 'Rankine, wow. What a freak this guy.'
A second added: 'You're are a freak of nature Izak Rankine.'
The soccer goal came only moments after Rankine kicked his first goal of the contest after running into open space in the 50.
The contest was hanging in the balance in the fourth quarter with the Crows unable to pull clear of their cross-town rivals.
But it was Rankine who stepped up to the plate with his first goal giving his team some much needed breathing space.
Despite the moments of magic from Rankine, the Crows ran out of juice as Port Adelaide roared back to life.
Down by as many as 21-points, the momentum completely flipped as the Power had all the running and looked like they were on the brink of pinching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Goals to Darcy Byrne-Jones and Jeremy Finlayson saw the margin close to within four-points, but that's as close as things got as the Crows held on.
The win lifts the Crows to 6-3 on the season and sees them sitting in fifth on the ladder. The loss for the Power drops them to 4-5 with pressure all over coach Ken Hinkley.
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