Hawks win thriller over the Bombers

Hawthorn 12.12 (84) def. Essendon 12.11 (83)

In a controversial afternoon of footy that saw two close games in two different states, it was a well-rested Hawthorn that defeated Essendon by just one point.

With rainfall making the surface of the MCG slippery for both teams and playing under lights, the style of play was clean with both teams running the ball back and forth with ease.

The first goal of the game wasn’t registered until 10 minutes in the opening term when Hawk Ben Dixon goaled almost 50 metres out.

Hawthorn’s win against Carlton was best characterised by overuse of the ball with short kicks and excessive handball use resulting in costly turn overs and loss of possession.

Today however both Essendon and Hawthorn played the kind of football that is enjoyable to watch. Both teams kicked long, ran hard and picked up the ball cleanly.

Despite Hawthorn appearing to control play in the first half of the term, Essendon wrestled back possession after Jason Winderlich goaled in controversial circumstances after appearing to hold the ball into Hawk defender Jordan Lewis.

The Hawks also conceded eight turnovers to Essendon through inaccurate passing despite dominating loose ball gets across the ground.

Essendon shared the goal scoring across the forward line in the absence of Matthew Loyd with Kepler Bradley, Andrew Lovett Murray and Mark Bolton all scoring majors to see Essendon enter the second term 16 points clear of the Hawks.

Hawthorn opened the second term with a much-needed goal by Trent Croad in the opening minute to set the pace of the quarter.

Accuracy and use of the ball improved for Hawthorn with 92% of kicks hitting their targets and another three unanswered goals occurring.

Campbell Brown scored the most difficult goal of the match after snapping the ball on his right foot under pressure from several Essendon defenders.

In what was an exciting term Essendon however soon responded with James Hird kicking two goals in two minutes to put them back in front by six points. Soon after Crawford goaled to bring it back to one point, with Lovett goaling just before the siren to see Essendon carry a six point buffer into the major break.

The question for Essendon was always going to be whether they could see out a second half of football coming off a five day break in comparison to the Hawks nine days.

Hawk Richie Vandenberg goaled in the opening minutes of the game as both teams opened up and kicked into free space.

The bombers wasted opportunities with both Lovett and Hird missing easy opportunities in front of goal while the Hawks made the most of theirs with both Williams and Everitt contributing majors.

Essendon flooded players back in the dying minutes of the term to try stem the flow of Hawthorns attack, with the Hawks finishing nine points up to take the lead for the first time leading into the end of the quarter.

The final term was always going to be the biggest test of not only Essendon’s fitness, but also rigour.

Essendon kicked the first goal of the term bringing the margin back to five points after rushing the ball back from its defensive zone with David Hille scoring his first for the match.

Minutes later Scott Lucas stole the lead back to a point after bombing the ball almost 60 metres out to score.

Hird and Lucas were the biggest contributors for Essendon with experience helping them to plug away at a persistent Hawthorn outfit with heavy rain falling in the final term.

Essendon’s skills were better in the wet with Hawthorn unable to penetrate their forward 50 at times, but with Mark Williams marking and goaling to snatch the lead by one point in the 24th minute saw a nail biting finish to the end.

The lead had changed eight times in the lead up to this point as Hawthorn played possession footy to run the clock down, with 36 players inside the Essendon attacking 50 in the dying stages to smother the ball.

Essendon however, despite their hard work in the final stages came away with their fourth consecutive loss and only one win for the season with the Hawks still flying high with four wins and one loss.

Next week Hawthorn will face North Melbourne and Essendon play Richmond.

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