Melbourne have come from five goals down to steamroll AFL ladder leaders Adelaide by 41 points in a Saturday night boilover.

The Demons trailed by 28 points in the second quarter but produced a spirited comeback to win 17.5 (107) to 9.12 (66) at Adelaide Oval.

Cam Pedersen kicked three goals and Nathan Jones, Tom McDonald, Jeff Garlett, Dean Kent and Thomas Bugg two each in Melbourne’s fourth win of the season.

Demons defender Jayden Hunt was knocked out in an accidental collision with Adelaide’s Sam Jacobs, who recorded 74 hit outs for the game, just six shy of Todd Goldstein’s record.

Jacobs’ dominance helped Adelaide create a 28-point lead 18 minutes into the second term.

But Melbourne climbed from the canvas with an unheralded scoring spree: nine consecutive goals, and 13 of the next 14 in the game.

Co-captains Jones (25 disposals) and Jack Viney (30 touches), emerging stars Christian Petracca (24 possessions) and Christian Salem (31 disposals) and backman Michael Hibberd (34 possessions) were superb for the Demons.

Their feats helped teammate Bernie Vince celebrate his 200th AFL game with a win over his old club.

Vince was tasked with minding Adelaide’s prime mover Rory Sloane and curtailed the star Crow to just 11 disposals.

Adelaide’s Rory Laird (37 touches) and Matt Crouch (29 possessions) tried to stem the Melbourne flow.

But the home side faded alarmingly en route to consecutive losses after six wins to open their campaign.

Crows captain Taylor Walker and his attacking colleagues Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins kicked two goals each in a game which went from having four field umpires to two.

Starting ump Craig Fleer was felled when he cracked heads with Vince early in the second quarter at a centre-bounce – stunned, he left the field.

But his replacement, emergency umpire Rowan Hundertmark, was also forced off with a suspected leg muscle tear – there were just two field umps in the final quarter.