Port Adelaide Power v's Hawthorn Hawks
ADELAIDE - Hawthorn showed the resilience of a maturing side to suck the life from a committed Port Adelaide and register an ultimately comfortable 34-point victory at AAMI Stadium today.
Rebounding from a pair of galling losses to Sydney and Geelong, and mourning the death of coach Mark Williams' much admired mother Von, the Power began with plenty of spirit, leading by four goals in the early exchanges.
Hawthorn had not beaten Port since the 2001 finals series and coach Alistair Clarkson feared a repeat of their last three visits to Adelaide, which all resulted in thrashings by more than 80 points.
But the Hawks gradually found momentum and capitalised on an increasing supply of Port turnovers to claim the halftime lead and eventually win 17.7 (109) to 10.15 (75).
In doing so they made light of setbacks including the loss of Trent Croad (foot) and Rick Ladson (back) before the bounce and Ben Dixon (hamstring) inside the first minute.
"We've been demoralising here the last couple of times we've played, Port have made us look second rate," Clarkson said after first offering condolences to the Williams family.
"To get the points today, we were looking like going down that track again early on, think there were about four minutes before we had a touch.
"It's pretty special for our players because we were down early, we came back, we lost two important players before the game started, then Dixon in the first minute.
"So it was an enormous effort by our players to withstand a red-hot Port Adelaide who had a lot to play for today."
Consummate midfield displays from Shane Crawford, Sam Mitchell, Ben McGlynn (three goals) and Luke Hodge provided more than enough of the ball for the Hawthorn forward line, where Tim Boyle (five goals) and Lance Franklin (three) finished off with aplomb.
Ruckmen Simon Taylor and Robert Campbell also had an influence as their partnership wore down the strength of All Australian follower Brendon Lade.
The Power had numerous players start well, but only Chad Cornes, Jacob Surjan, Damon White and Shaun Burgoyne had much influence beyond that point.
Port began intent on erasing any notion of softness in the first term, attacking Hawthorn with a visibly increased resolve.
Port were soon 22 points clear and they received additional inspiration when Stephen Salopek sprinted into a sickening collision with an airborne Joel Smith which drew plenty of blood and held up play for about five minutes as he was stretchered from the field.
Willing as they were the question was always going to be how long the Power could sustain the effort against a side that ran tirelessly and possessed genuine talent, not to mention confidence, on every line.
Aided by the breeze, the Hawks slowly wrested control in the second quarter, grasping the lead with a burst of three late goals that gave them a match-turning eight for the term.
The third was not exactly free-flowing, but three Hawks majors in five minutes created a gap, and a trio of missed shots by the Power left a 17 point break.
Sporting facial bandages and a broken nose, Salopek returned courageously for the last and immediately added verve by setting up out-of-sorts captain Warren Tredrea.
But like numerous teammates, Tredrea missed his undemanding shot and three further goals to Franklin, Hodge and Boyle settled matters.
"We started really well but to kick two goals nine after halftime you're going to give the opposition a chance to get back into the game," said Port assistant coach Dean Bailey.
Carlton Blues v's Western Bulldogs
MELBOURNE - Carlton broke their six-game losing streak today, upsetting the Western Bulldogs by 10 points in an AFL thriller at the MCG.
The Blues fought off a late surge from the Bulldogs to score their third win of the season, 21.12 (138) to 19.14 (128).
A goal to Bulldogs ruckman Peter Street brought his side to within two points 21 minutes into the last term, but Blues youngster Bryce Gibbs replied from a free kick four minutes later.
Carlton then held on for a gutsy win.
The Blues were trailing by 22 points early in the third term when they broke the game apart with an eight-goal quarter.
Matthew Lappin kicked four of his five goals for the match in the third term, including three in four minutes, as the Blues went into the last change with a 19-point lead.
That extended to 25 points early in the last quarter before the Bulldogs surged.
Blues follower Andrew Carrazzo and defender Jordan Bannister were outstanding, while the Bulldogs' best featured Adam Cooney and Brian Harris.
The game featured 25 individual goalkickers, understood to equal the all-time AFL record.
Carlton and the Bulldogs kicked seven goals apiece in the opening quarter, with the early shootout lasting 35 minutes.
Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade went straight to his defenders at the quarter-time huddle, clearly worried about the ease with which Carlton were scoring.
The Bulldogs led by two points at the first break and extended that gradually through the second term as they appeared ready to take control, but the Blues had other ideas.
While Carlton broke their losing run, it was the second-straight loss for the Bulldogs as their inconsistent season continues.
The Bulldogs now have five wins from 10 matches.
Sydney Swans v's Essendon Bombers
SYDNEY - Sydney's season is suddenly at the crossroads following last night's surprise one-point AFL loss to Essendon at the SCG.
The Swans were heavy favourites heading into the clash, but the Bombers made a quick start and showed greater composure down the stretch to claim an 11.8 (74) to 11.7 (73) victory.
Down by 14 points after Mark McVeigh's controversial goal at the 25-minute mark of the last term, Sydney were able to produce a trademark comeback.
Goals to Barry Hall and Craig Bolton narrowed the margin to just two points before Amon Buchanan's late snap agonisingly brushed the inside of the post to give Essendon the narrow triumph.
The win moved the Bombers to a healthy 6-4 record for the season, while the Swans slipped to 5-5 and into a finals dogfight with a tough month ahead.
Sydney faces a resurgent Hawthorn at the MCG next week, with the Hawks moving to 7-3 after today's impressive victory over the Power in Adelaide.
The Swans then meet Collingwood at Telstra Stadium following the mid-season bye before heading to Skilled Stadium to face another finals contender in Geelong.
It is a tricky schedule but coach Paul Roos is maintaining his optimism and was at least pleased with Sydney's fightback last night after Essendon kicked five of the first six goals.
"After the first probably 20 minutes we really roped them in," he said.
"For the next hundred minutes it was close and hard-fought and in tight.
"It was always going to come down to one or two things at the end of the game and we just happened to be on the wrong side of it."
McVeigh's goal was just one of a handful of contentious moments in the match which ended with the umpires being assisted from the ground by security.
Adam McPhee clearly took the ball out of bounds before finding McVeigh for what would prove to be the match-sealing goal.
The Bombers were also awarded a point when Peter Everitt nonchalantly punched the ball through following an Essendon set shot that fell well short of goal after the three-quarter siren.
The notorious hands-in-the-back rule was also a factor, with Sydney penalised a number of times for some seemingly innocuous infractions.
After the match the sold-out crowd of more than 26,000 began booing from the moment the game finished and continued for minutes, including when Matthew Lloyd took to the podium to accept the Marn Grook Trophy - awarded to the winner of matches between Essendon and Sydney.
Asked if he would speak to the AFL about the umpiring, Roos shrugged and replied: "I don't think we'll get the points back."
He added he'd never seen a Sydney crowd, often accused of having a lack of AFL knowledge over the years, react so vehemently.
"There's an enormous amount of frustration and I think it was showed by the 30,000 people that were here," he said.
"Clearly they were frustrated and I've never heard a crowd in Melbourne react like that, let alone a crowd in Sydney."
Richmond Tigers v's Brisbane Lions
MELBOURNE - Richmond broke their losing streak but remain without an AFL victory in 2007 after they drew with the Brisbane Lions at Telstra Dome tonight.
In more heartbreak for the Tigers, they booted the only two goals of the last quarter and then had the last few attacking thrusts in the game but could not break the deadlock.
Kayne Pettifer's goal with less than two minutes levelled the scores at 10.13 (73) and they remained that way despite some agonisingly close plays in the final frantic seconds.
Richmond captain Kane Johnson almost produced the winning play when he marked one-handed on centre wing with only seconds left and then passed to a teammate, only for the ball to land just short and into the Lions' arms.
While the result provided more angst for the Tigers, the Lions can thank Troy Selwood for laying a score-saving tackle on Greg Tivendale with about a minute left, preventing the Tigers veteran from getting a kick away.
Richmond were the more urgent side of the final quarter and might have deserved the victory after they rallied from 13 points down at the final change and their supporters cheered them off despite their inability to win.
The result - the first draw of the season - at least gives Richmond their first two points this season after nine losses, while the Lions are also winless from their past four games, having lost their previous three before tonight.
The Lions managed only three behinds in the final quarter and looked to have had the game won at the final change after Nigel Lappin threaded a miracle goal from deep in the pocket just as the siren went.
But the Tigers rallied and produced goals through Richard Tambling and Pettifer, who both kicked truly from marks.
it was arguably a case of which side threw away a win; both made countless mistakes and missed golden opportunities.
Richmond jumped to a handy lead midway through the second quarter, while the Lions dominated play early and should have been further in front given the easy shots they missed.
Lappin and Tim Notting were the Lions' best, while Rhan Hooper did well in his first game of the season and Joel Patfull proved a handful in the forward line with three goals.
The Lions did well to dominate most of the game given they got only moderate games from key forward Jonathan Brown and star midfielder Simon Black, who was well held by Daniel Jackson.
Nathan Foley, Johnson and Jake King all did well for the Tigers, Joel Bowden played well on Brown and Matthew Richardson and Tambling both booted two goals.
The result left Richmond outright bottom after Melbourne's breakthrough win over Adelaide today and it left rival coaches Leigh Matthews and Terry Wallace both disappointed.
Brisbane's Matthews said: "When you're in front with five minutes to go and you lose you feel a little bit more aggrieved that you lost rather than you drew it, because we were in front and they kicked the last score to draw it."
Wallace said the players lifted from one of the poorest first halves he had seen, but said the overriding emotion was still disappointment.
"We came here to win and we didn't get the win, so as far as we're concerned we're disappointed with that," he said.
Wallace said the Tigers could not salvage anything from the game despite winning their first points of the season and even suggested extra-time would have made for a better spectacle.
"I've never been a great one for draws," he said.
"I think everyone feels lousy about them. I don't know what the (solution) is, whether you can play five minutes each way and get a result.
"I think that would be a better stand-out, then your crowd's in the game.
"Both crowds go away and (are) meant to be happy and (are) meant to be sad and I still like a result in a game of footy."
Wallace said he had no issue with Johnson's inability to hit a target on the last play, as the Tigers had other opportunities earlier in the final quarter.
"He had Shane Edwards in short and Kayne Pettifer over the back," he said.
"He went for Kayne, but the kick just didn't have the depth and penetration, he'd (Johnson) run most of the last quarter and was a little bit tired in the legs and couldn't get it over the top."
The Lions are likely to be without veteran defender Chris Johnson for some time after he suffered a recurrence of the foot problem plantar fasciitis, which affects the heel of his foot.
"What that means in a timeframe I don't know but he's certainly gone for a little while," Matthews said.
Matthews was impressed with the performance of Hooper, who walked out on the club earlier this year and has finally got himself ready to play again.
"We think he's quite a talented young player but he didn't want to be involved for a couple of months," he said.
"It means round 10 is the first time he was ready to come in and have a go at senior level so he's wasted half a season, but I thought he was good and very important for us tonight."
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