Hawks trip over the line

Hawthorn   85 defeated Richmond   75

Hawthorn have managed to secure victory in round one of the NAB Cup against Richmond at the Telstra Dome this afternoon, getting over the line by 10 points in what was an enthralling contest.

Richmond managed to fight back from a 26-point deficit at half-time, to have the scores level late in the last quarter, before two vital goals to Hawthorn spearhead Mark Williams slashed the Tigers hopes of victory.

Hawthorn started the game with the aggressive Campbell Brown on the sidelines, while the Tigers were without Kayne Pettifer, Trent Knobel, Andrew Kellaway, and Darren Gasper.

For the Hawks, new recruit Brent Guerra (25 possessions) was sensational rotating through the midfield and the backline, while Mark Williams dominated as usual up forward, bagging five goals.

For the Tigers, Shane Tuck (26 possessions) continued his rich vein of form from last season, dominating periods through the midfield for Richmond, while Chris Hyde (18 possessions) booted two impressive goals.

The opening stages of the game displayed a lack of accuracy from both sides, with the two sides exchanging behinds early on.

Speedster Chance Bateman finally opened the scoring for the Hawks, with a massive 9-point super-goal giving Hawks fans something to cheer about.

Young-gun Brett Deledio replied immediately for the Tigers, dribbling a goal through the big sticks to bring the margin back to three points.

Rick Ladson and Hyde then exchanged majors for their respective sides before the break, and the scores sat at 20-13 in favour of Hawthorn.

In the second term, the Hawks asserted themselves, stamping their authority on the match slotting three unanswered six-pointers through Chance Bateman, Harry Miller and Williams, only after Deledio had booted the opening major of the quarter for Richmond.

David Rodan steadied the ship for the boys from Punt Road, cutting the margin back to 19 points.

Strong-man Jarryd Roughead produced the immediate reply for the Hawks, plucking the ball out of the atmosphere with a sensational mark and slotting the ball through the big sticks.

Both sides then exchanged majors before half-time, and at the long break the Hawks led 59-33.

The premiership-quarter proved to be extremely quiet, with both sides floating men back behind the ball, making life as a forward very difficult.

The Tigers booted two goals for the quarter through Greg Stafford and Tuck, while the Hawks were held to only one point, and going into the final quarter, the Hawks led by 11 points.

With all the momentum going Richmond’s way heading into the final quarter, superstar Luke Hodge had other ideas, producing a scintillating smother, which resulted in the magician collecting the loose ball and slotting home a goal, stretching the Hawks lead to three goals.

Three unbelievable consecutive majors to Richmond through Matthew Richardson, Hyde and Richard Tambling locked the scores at 67 each, before a vintage Williams lead resulted in the dasher booting his third goal of the afternoon, which put the Hawks in front by a goal.

Stafford then hit back for the Tigers with his second goal of the afternoon, while Richardson kicked a behind, sending the Tigers up by one solitary point.

Williams then booted the final two majors of the match late in the quarter, to give the Hawks the victory, 85-75, and send them into the quarter-finals of the inaugural NAB Cup.

Next week sees the Hawks host the winner of the Adelaide-Port Adelaide match at Aurora Stadium in Launceston.

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