Lions clinch hard-fought win over the Hawks

Brisbane Lions 11.18 (84) def. Hawthorn 11. 8 (74)

A determined Brisbane outfit has tonight pulled off an inspiring comeback to down Hawthorn by 10 points at the Gabba, courtesy of a stellar second-half performance.

Trailing by 25 points towards the latter part of the first half, Brisbane slammed on eight of the next eleven goals to hold off the Hawks in the final term, and in doing so, clinched their second win in as many weeks.

There was only one late change to speak of, with Hawthorn big-man Peter Everitt making way for third-string ruckman Simon Taylor.

During the third term when the game was in the balance, the big-men of the Lions’ – Clark Keating (25 hit-outs) and Jamie Charman (17 disposals, 16 hit-outs, two goals) – stood up to wrestle the lead back for the host side, while Luke Power (38 disposals, eight marks, one goal) was dominant through the middle of the ground.

For the visitors, Trent Croad (17 disposals, six marks, one goal) provided a formidable target across the half-forward line, before containing Charman in the final quarter, while Sam Mitchell (20 disposals) extracted plenty of the sherrin in and under the clinches.

In perfect conditions for football, the Hawks’ got off to the best possible start, slotting the first two majors of the match through Mark Williams and Chance Bateman with two sensational snaps on goal.

The boys from Waverley then proceeded to slot the next three goals of the term off the boot of Croad, Ben Dixon and Richard Vandenberg, with the skipper’s major the pick of the bunch, as pinpoint accurate execution found the ball sailing through the big sticks. Vandenberg’s six-pointer found the Lions flailing, as they trailed by 29 points.

Daniel Bradshaw pulled one back for the Lions’ in the shadows of quarter-time, and at the break, the hosts trailed by 23 points.

After an abysmal display in the first term, the Lions’ were in need of a strong start to the second, and it came through a Josh Drummond goal, with the youngster’s first major of the year cutting the deficit back to 17 points.

Hawthorn answered back immediately via a piece of individual roving brilliance from Lance Franklin, before Matthew Moody slotted the Lions’ second goal of the term to cut the margin back to 14 points.

Not about to lie down, the Hawks’ brought their crumbing skills to the fore, with Rick Ladson and Luke Hodge both goaling in quick succession to bring the buffer out to 25 points.

Content with their lead, Hawthorn shut up shop two minutes too early, as Bradshaw and Power booted six-pointers in the latter stage of the stanza for Brisbane to be trailing by 12 points at the long break.

The premiership term began in sensational fashion for the visitors, with Franklin weaving a peace of magic to stretch the Hawks buffer out to 18 points.

Charman and Robert Campbell then exchanged goals for their respective sides, before the Lions slammed on the last five majors of the term through Charman, Rhan Hooper, Bradshaw (2) and Brennan to hold a 12-point lead going into the final change.

The final term proved to be tight for it’s entirety, with both sides tussling for a six-pointer throughout.

Franklin booted the only goal of the quarter to cut the deficit back to six points, but the Hawks’ weren’t able to boot another one, courtesy of a watertight Brisbane Lions’ defensive unit, which effectively allowed Brisbane to record a 10-point victory.

Next week sees Brisbane pitted against cellar-dwellers Essendon at the Telstra Dome on Saturday night, while the Hawks clash with Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night.

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