Crows power home against Hawks

Adelaide   71 defeated Hawthorn   58

Adelaide is through to the semi finals of the NAB Cup after downing Hawthorn by 13 points in a hard fought victory at Aurora Stadium in Launceston this evening.

The Crows looked the better side for much of the night, but were unable to tie down a persistent Hawks unit. They were boosted early in the final term by a Supergoal kicked by forward Luke Jericho, but were given a fright late in the piece when the Hawks, led by Jarred Roughead, surged back into the contest.

The Adelaide forward combination was a major threat for much of the evening, with Trent Hentschel snagging three majors to go with his six the previous week. The form of youngsters Chris Knights and Bernie Vince will have warmed Neil Craig’s heart, while crumbing forward Matthew Bode’s return to form will be welcomed – the 84 game veteran playing only two matches last season.

It was not all doom and gloom for the Hawks, who were led brilliantly by Rick Ladson and Sam Mitchell through the midfield. Entering his fifth season of league football, Ladson showed he has what it takes to step up into the midfield in gathering 35 possessions. Mitchell was ever present, throwing himself into the fray when the intensity rose, and skipper Vandenberg was as hard as ever.

Adelaide burst out of the blocks in the opening term with three goals within the first three minutes, Bode, Knights and soon Hentschel adding their name to the scorebook. Remarkably, Hawthorn was unable to gain a clear possession for over four minutes.

The Hawks, though, weathered the early storm and wrestled back some of the momentum, by stemming the early flow before going on the attack.

Ladson was in everything through the midfield, and it was no surprise when he bobbed up in the forward fifty, sinking his teams first major. The Crows went to the quarter time huddle well placed, leading by two goals.

Hawthorn continued where they had left off as the second stanza got under way, on the board early through its lead sharpshooter Mark Williams.

The game then evolved into a battle of the backlines – both defences mopping up the wasteful kicking that came their way. For the Hawks, the maligned Danny Jacobs was cool in a crisis, while reliable Crow Brett Burton was in everything across halfback.

The Hawks pressed further, when Vandenberg’s free kick gained an extra 50 meters courtesy of Crow Scott Thompson’s abusive language. With a Supergoal opportunity from only 40 meters out, the captain made no mistake, his side clawing their way back to level the halftime scores.

The tug-of-war continued into the third term, the two teams going goal for goal through the term. Thompson added Adelaide’s first goal since early in the first quarter, which was soon answered by an increasingly dangerous Williams.

Young Hawk ruckman Max Bailey had a moment he’ll never forget, out pointing Adelaide’s All-Australian fullback Ben Rutten and goaling with his first kick from point-blank range.

With the match evenly poised, the Crows gained a crucial buffer through a Supergoal to the dashing Knights, which took on even more importance when Hentschel split the middle with a snap over his shoulder. Hawthorn went to the break four points in arrears.

Adelaide split the game wide open in the last quarter, with a Supergoal to Luke Jericho opening the floodgates – the omnipresent Brett Burton cashed on a dubious free kick to give his side a 25 point lead – eventually running out 13 point victors.

The Hawks tried hard, however, with Roughead showing glimpses of his undoubted potential with some strong grabs which resulted in majors, to temporarily breathe life into the Hawthorn challenge.

Although it appeared Adelaide was not in full gear, they will take plenty from the match, and are poised to take on Melbourne on Friday night, the venue yet to be determined. The Hawks, far from disgraced, will take the football circus to a rural town next weekend.

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