Hawks Fly Into Eight

janetl — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:03:15 -0500

Janet Linn reporting for AFANA from Subiaco Oval, Perth

Hawthorn have returned to the Final Eight with a hard fought win against a valiant Fremantle Dockers team. Traveling interstate to Subiaco Oval for the Round 8 match against Fremantle, the Hawks came in with a defense seriously undermanned through injury. The Fremantle Dockers were coming off a morale-boosting three game winning streak and had the home advantage. Tipsters were divided in their predictions and Friday night football looked set to reward fans with an absolute beauty.

Chris Tarrant, the former Dockers forward reinvented this season as a backman, won the challenging role of guarding Hawks standout full forward Buddy Franklin. It was a tight start but the Hawks struck gold first, scoring quick goals from Chance Bateman and Stuart Dew. Matthew Pavlich was in good touch for the Dockers in the midfield and for the Hawks Jordan Lewis was in the thick of the action. Fremantle hit back to equalize through goals to Scott Thornton and Luke McPharlin. The standard of football was high with hard tackling a feature for both sides. After being well held by Tarrant, Franklin imposed his bulk late in the quarter to take a good mark and score his first goal. The Hawks took a six point lead into the quarter time break.

Goals were hard to come by in the early part of the second quarter but Fremantle hit the front after a strong Ryan Murphy mark and goal from the square. Cyril Rioli, in only his second year of AFL football, continues to dazzle fans and commentators alike. With his uncanny mixture of skill and magic, he controlled the ball beautifully along the boundary line and set up a Mark Williams goal. Franklin hit a purple patch and scored twice for the Hawks taking them to a 17 point lead and signaling danger for the Dockers. Again Rioli's work ethic set him apart from the crowd as he ran from one end to the other and scored a beautiful goal. The icing on the cake for the Hawks came from rookie Garry Moss who scooped the ball up after a stoppage, took a low snap on goal and put the visitors 30 points ahead at the major break.

It was a dream start to the third quarter for the Hawks when Fremantle defender Steven Dodd was caught holding the ball and Williams scored his second from the resultant free kick. Just when the Dockers looked gone, Michael Johnson took a terrific juggling mark in the square and converted on goal. Before the center bounce down could take place, Nick Suban was awarded a free kick in front of goal after a Hawthorn defender lost his cool and hit him illegally. Suban missed a very straightforward shot and a chance to bring Fremantle back into striking distance. The Fremantle shakiness in front of the big sticks was contagious with Johnson and McPharlin inexplicably missing sitters before McPharlin finally converted to narrow the gap to 22 points. The quarter had been dominated by Fremantle but Rioli popped up again to make something out of nothing and score a six pointer against the run of play. Fremantle scrambled forward and Murphy soccered a goal to repair the damage but every time the Dockers made up some ground, the Hawks found a way to get the answering score. When Michael Osborne kicked a goal from deep in the forward pocket on a very acute angle, it looked like goodnight for the Dockers but they refused to surrender. A late goal to Paul Duffield gave the Dockers some chance with a 22 point deficit going into the final quarter.

That the Dockers weren't done for was crystal clear in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter. They defended the Hawks attacks ferociously and when Docker captain Pavlich bombed a magnificent long goal it seemed that the momentum had swung their way. Pavlich's efforts were inspirational but goals were elusive for Fremantle with Byron Schammer, Dean Solomon and Brett Peake all missing golden opportunities. Although the Fremantle endeavor was unquestionable, the Hawks steadied and had the experience when it counted to seal the game through goals to Jarryd Roughead and Buddy Franklin. The Hawks set up their win with an outstanding second quarter performance and were able to put enough pressure - physical and mental - on the Dockers to keep them from scoring goals when they needed them.

Hawthorn's win has put them back into contention as they move into 7th position on the AFL Ladder, equal to Carlton on points but with an inferior percentage. Essendon (8th) and Sydney (9th) are equal on points but below the Hawks on percentage. Fremantle are wallowing in 14th place but the competition is so even that only percentage separates them from the West Coast Eagles (10th), Collingwood (11th), Adelaide (12th) and North Melbourne (13th).

Next week's Indigenous Round may see the AFL Ladder gridlock ease. Hawthorn meets the lowly but recently competitive Melbourne, Fremantle plays North Melbourne in Melbourne and the Eagles come up against Collingwood at Subiaco Oval.

Scoreboard
Hawthorn  3.2 8.4 11.6 13.9  (87)
Fremantle 2.2 3.2  7.8  9.11 (65)

Best players
Hawthorn  C Rioli, B McGlynn, B Sewell, S Mitchell, C Bateman, J Lewis
Fremantle M Pavlich, P Duffield, M Johnson, C Tarrant, B Schammer, A Sandilands

Bombers Blast Hawks

rickb — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:21:01 -0500

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Perth

Twenty-five years of rivalry came to a head Friday night at Etihad Stadium. A pro-Hawthorn crowd of 50,000 was looking forward to an easy win over the Bombers, and tipsters from all around Australia were licking their lips at the odds.

As expected, the first quarter was played in Hawthorn's forward line. Stuart Dew kicked the first Hawthorn goal as Essendon looked on with trepidation. Jay Neagle countered to produce Essendon's first goal and the game turned around when Nathan Lovett-Murray kicked their second. Hawthorn began to feel the heat and looked shaky in their goal kicking as their confidence waned. The Hawks were punished for their inefficiency in front of goal and when Matthew Lloyd kicked truly after the first quarter siren, Essendon found themselves with a handy twelve point lead at the break.

With eight behinds and only one goal to Hawthorn, the game could have been all over early in the piece. However the Hawks rebounded and kicked the first three goals in the second quarter to win back the lead. To the Bombers' credit, they didn't panic and kicked the next three goals in a row to reassert their authority on the game. It was an exciting quarter with both teams committed to the contest and neither giving an inch of ground. Some tough tackling by Buddy Franklin on Bachar Houli saw him rewarded with a goal late in the half. After a close and tight contest, the Hawks were up by a point at the major break.

At half time, many spectators thought that the Bombers had produced their best and that their intensity and determination would drop off as the game progressed. Most tipsters would have echoed those thoughts and predicted a second half dominated by the reigning Premiers. No-one told the Bombers however, and when the third quarter got under way, they scored the first two goals to fire up the team and their fans. It was goal for goal for most of the term, until an inspired burst saw Essendon kick four of the last five goals to take a 17 point lead into the final break. All watching had the feeling that the Bombers were in the mood to take it up to the champions in the fourth quarter.

Leading from the front, Essendon Captain Matthew Lloyd continued to present a consistent forward target for his midfielders. His spectacular overhead marking was inspirational and when he kicked the first goal of the last quarter, the writing was on the wall for the biggest upset of the round. Franklin kept the Hawks in the game with four goals for the match, but it was not enough in the end and Essendon ran out easy 44 point winners.

The backbone provided by the Bombers' ferocious midfielders was what produced the confidence needed to get up and beat last year's Premiers. The dilemma for Essendon coach Matthew Knights is how to keep up the momentum provided by this outstanding performance for the rest of the season. Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson faces some challenges of his own with a team that looked brittle and was clearly rattled by the defensive pressure of a less talented but more determined Bombers outfit.

The Hawks are on the road in Round 8, traveling to Subiaco Oval to face an in-form Fremantle who are on a high after three wins in a row. The Hawks face the formidable task of playing the Dockers in front of a home crowd which usually lifts them to the next level of performance.

Forlorn tipsters will be resigning in droves after the first seven rounds have produced one of the most unpredictable starts to an AFL season in years.

Scoreboard:
Essendon 4.2 6.7 12.10 17.14 (116)
Hawthorn 1.8 6.8  9.11 10.12 (72)

Best Players:
Essendon A Monfries, M Lloyd, B Stanton, J Watson, A Lovett
Hawthorn L Franklin, C Rioli, J Roughead, S Mitchell