The Hawthorn football club posted a sensational upset victory on Friday night. The Hawks like Port Adelaide in round one, were given very little chance of posting a win at the SCG, yet with a beautifully executed defensive plan and dogged determination, Hawthorn were able to hold off a fast finishing Sydney team and win by a single goal. In the final minutes, Jarryd Roughead was able to slot a well taken kick right on the 50 metre arc and clinch the game for his side. Amazingly, the last 3 AFL games in New South Wales have seen games decided in the final two minutes. For Sydney it was a bitter loss as they hit the lead midway through the final term after Isaac Heeney kicked two goals and looked to have the game iced. Yet the Hawks never gave in with Shaun Burgoyne and Jarryd Roughead kicking the most important of goals.

The Hawks were first to the ball on many occasions against Sydney on Friday night. Photo: Jodie Newell

It was Hawthorn who began the game well, with Luke Breust,Jack Gunston and Brendan Whitecross kicking Hawthorn’s first three goals. It wasn’t until the 15 minute mark of quarter before Lance Franklin posted Sydney’s first goal of the game from a superb shot from the boundary. The Hawks quickly responded with another two goals from Paul Puopolo and Breust before Franklin put Sydney’s second goal on the board seconds before the siren. Former Swan Tom Mitchell collected ten disposals for the quarter and was one of the main reasons why Hawthorn were able to generate opportunities for his forwards up front.The Hawks had plenty of the ball in the 1st quarter leading 113-75 in the disposal count.

Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell (right) got plenty of the ball against his old side. Photo: Jodie Newell

The pattern that was starting to emerge was the Hawthorn defensive structure. Like previous seasons, the Hawks play a type of “line defense” in which players in groups of 3 or four tend to align themselves across the ground when the forward press is occurring. Leading this set up and strategy implementation was Luke Hodge. At the centre half back position, Hodge could be continually observed barking out instructions to his team mates to move to a certain position or swing towards another side of the ground. This form of tactic was very, very effective against Sydney who struggled to play their normal, fast flowing SCG type of game. Lance Franklin, due to his sheer brilliance and skill was able to counteract the strategy, but on the whole, the effective Hawthorn defense went a long way to winning this game. The image below is a perfect illustration on how Hodge played his role throughout the game.

Luke Hodge was like a general at the back-line. He was constantly yelling to his team mates to set up and stick to their defensive structures. Photo / Graphics: Jodie Newell

Despite the effectiveness of the Hawks defense, Sydney began chipping away and made the best of their opportunities. During the third quarter they entered the Inside 50 metre area 11 occasions and kicked 5 goals and were right back into the game. Lance Franklin was amazing yet again. He kicked three goals for the term and was simply unstoppable.

Lance Franklin was easily Sydney’s best player kicking 5 goals. Photo: Jodie Newell

With the start of the final quarter, one could sense Sydney were building momentum. The gallant efforts of Hodge and co at the back, despite all of their hard work was starting to become unsustainable. Isaac Heeney goaled and put the Swans into the lead for the first time of the match.He posted another goal a few minutes later and the Swans looked like the probable victors. Dan Hannebery was getting plenty of the ball around the packs and ended up with 35 disposals. Zak Jones who had been quiet was starting to make his presence felt. He laid 11 tackles for the game and had 22 disposals, including a goal.Sydney weren’t able to shut down the Hawthorn midfield in Mitchell and Liam Shiels and it was Hawthorn who showed great character and poise. Veterans in Shaun Burgoyne and Jarryd Roughead did what was required. Their class and experience stood out and they made clutch plays to secure the win for the Hawthorn Football Club.

One for all and all for one. Photo: Jodie Newell

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson looked relived and slightly exhausted due to the close nature of the game. Clarkson was full of praise for his team that he said showed a lot of character and that whilst the defensive structure held for most part, they still had to overcome Lance Franklin and showed tremendous character to get back into the game after the losing the lead.

“We had our backs to the wall and were challenged” – Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson. Photo: Jodie Newell

A shattered Swans coach in John Longmire said he felt his side lost the game early on, by not being in the contest. Fortunatley, Sydney will now have a week off via a bye, before playing the reigning premiers in the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night June  8 at the SCG. Sydney (3-7) are currently sitting 15th on the AFL Ladder. Hawthorn have a six day break before flying to South Australia to play Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval next Thursday night. The Hawks (4-6) are sitting on 14th place on the AFL ladder

Slow starters Coach Longmire thought Sydney began too slowly against the Hawks. Photo: Jodie Newell

SYDNEY         2.4   4.6   9.7   11.9 (75)
HAWTHORN   5.1   8.3  10.6  12.9 (81)

GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 5, Heeney 2, Papley, Kennedy, Jones, Rohan
Hawthorn: Bruest 3, Burgoyne 2, Whitecross 2, Gunston, Puopolo, Sicily, Cousins, Roughead

BEST
Sydney: Franklin, Kennedy, Papley
Hawthorn: Hodge, Burgoyne, Shiels

INJURIES
Sydney: Jake Lloyd (concussion), Sam Reid (concussion)
Hawthorn: Nil

Reports: No Reports

Umpires: Chris Donlon, Leigh Fisher, Brett Rosebury

VERDICT: Yet another game where the umpires weren’t really noticed.The free kicks favored Sydney 20-12 but there wasn’t a sense of unfairness or bad calls. Again well done umpires

Official crowd: 36,221 at the Sydney Cricket Ground