Australian Football

Match Report

Hawthorn is knocking on the door of the top four after a hard-fought away win against Adelaide at Football Park on Saturday night. The Hawks jumped away to an early lead and withstood several spirited Adelaide comebacks after to quarter time to sneak home by 11 points.

The match began with the Crows applying intense midfield pressure but they were only able to convert their early forward-50 entries into two behinds. The Hawks then made the most of a bad turnover, with Jordan Lewis scoring the game's first goal for Hawthorn. A running Bradley Hill scored Hawthorn's second at the 12-minute mark and captain Luke Hodge followed up with another to give the Hawks a 16-point lead half way through the first term. Adelaide scored further behinds to Tom Lynch and Bernie Vince before Paul Puopolo kicked another for Hawthorn to give them a decisive break. Paddy Dangerfield pegged one back for the Crows but Hill scored his second just before the siren to give the Hawks a 22-point quarter time lead.

Michael Osborne opened the scoring in the second term with a goal that took Hawthorn to a five-goal lead and it looked like a long afternoon was in store for the Crows. But from that point, they gradually worked themselves back into the match. Josh Jenkins marked and goaled before Dangerfield was awarded a free and kicked his second to reduce the margin to 13. Four minutes later Sam Kerridge snapped another and it was "game on". Josh Jenkins scored another as the second quarter entered time on and when the half time bell went, the difference was just two points.

Hawthorn came out firing early in the third quarter, kicking 2.2 in the first 13 minutes (with goals to Isaac Smith and ex-Crow Jack Gunston) with the Crows not scoring at all. Vince then kicked his first but Gunston scored another and Hawthorn led by 17 as the clock ticked in to time-on. But the Crows came alive in "red time" and goals to Sam Jacobs and Richard Douglas saw the margin cut back to 5 at the last change of ends.

Two minutes in the last quarter Scott Thompson caught Hawk Josh Gibson with the ball and was awarded a free kick. He converted and his goal gave the Crows a one-point lead at the two-minute mark. Jarryd Roughead restored the lead for Hawthorn with a goal at the seven-minute mark but the Crows continued to fight. Thompson took what he thought was a mark and went back to have a shot at goal only to be told he had pushed his opponent David Hale out in the contest. Replays showed that Thompson's hand had made the lightest of contact with Hale's arm. The resultant turnover saw the ball taken straight to the other end with Luke Breust tipping the transition off with a goal. Football Park was seething with irate Crows' fans at that point.

Hawthorn managed to hold Adelaide at bay for the remainder of the match and record a tight victory. Perennial warriors Same Mitchell and Luke Hodge were best for the Hawks, while Dangerfield and Reilly were magnificent for Adelaide.

Hawthorn's next assignment is Sydney at the MCG and they will be keen to seek at least some small vengeance for their Grand Final loss to the Swans. The Crows travel to Sydney to take on GWS and they will be expected to record their third win of the season there.

GOALS
Adelaide: Jenkins, Dangerfield, Kerridge, Thompson 2; Douglas, Jacobs, Vince
Hawthorn: Gunston 3; Hill, Breust 2; Hodge, Lewis, Puopolo, Smith, Osborne, Roughead

BEST - ADELAIDENOW.COM.AU
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Reilly, Thompson, Talia, Sloane, Mackay
Hawthorn: Hodge, Mitchell, Puopolo, Lewis, Sewell, Guerra, Gibson

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Talia, Reilly, Sloane, Thompson, Vince
Hawthorn: Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Gibson, Breust, Smith

COACHES' COMMENTS
Brenton Sanderson (Adel): I don't like any defeats but the effort's there. The boys crashed and bashed. There should be some players who are proud of their performance tonight. We gave it everything we had and unfortunately came up short.

Alastair Clarkson (Haw): We're pleased with the way that we started but, as happens against good sides, it's hard to keep them down for the whole of the four quarters. They played some really good footy in the second quarter, got themselves back in the game and from then it was a real grind from that point on, so we're really pleased to come to Adelaide, get the win and move on to next week.

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Matthew Wright replaced Jarryd Lyons in the third quarter
Hawthorn: Jonathan Simpkin replaced Michael Osborne in the third quarter

UMPIRES: Margetts, Chamberlain, Armstrong