Follow along live as Sam Mitchell’s red-hot Hawks host their famous rivals under Friday night lights.
Follow along live as Sam Mitchell’s red-hot Hawks host their famous rivals under Friday night lights.
Check out these crowd numbers – from Friday at Albert Park, to Friday night at the MCG…
Hawthorn have answered … again.
Dylan Moore has booted his third and the Hawks lead by 24 points.
Still, the Essendon crowd is up and about. They believe their boys are still in this game.
We are down to the final six minutes.
Essendon have closed the lead to 18 points – a goal from Xavier Duursma has brought them right back into this match.
Everyone has basically conceded this game to Essendon, but Sam Draper is not laying down just yet.
The big Bomber has marked and goaled and is trying to make his teammates believe. He has thumped his fist on his chest and given it the “C’mon” treatment.
The game has ticked down to nine minutes and the Bombers trail by 24 points.
The Hawks are a tease for the Bombers. Just when they think they are getting close, the Hawks leave them grasping at thin air.
Josh Weddle’s mark and goal from 40 out has taken the margin back out to five goals. At the risk of having this screengrabbed and becoming a joke on social media: I’m calling this now for Hawthorn. The Bombers have been plucky but they don’t have the class to overrun the Hawks from here.
The night continues to run to a familiar pattern,
Jade Gresham kicks a goal for Essendon, within minutes Hawthorn have answered back.
The Gresham goal brings the Bombers to within four goals and gives them an outside chance.
The Hawthorn goal – off the boot of Josh Weddle – stretches their lead back to five goals, and snuffs out Essendon’s chance.
Jye Caldwell has goaled for Essendon in the final quarter.
There have been moments throughout the night for the Bombers, but Hawthorn have always had the answer.
Hawks lead by 31 points inside the final 10 minutes.
Interestingly, Sam Mitchell has not had to throw his captain James Sicily forward.
I guess you could say, “no emergency, don’t break glass”.
An unbelievable set play.
From a kick in, the Hawks have moved the ball from back to forward in the blink of an eye. And goaled.
As James Sicily was about to bring the ball in from full-back, all the Hawthorn players moved to one side of the ground. Everyone except Jarman Impey who charged to the opposite wing.
Sicily landed the ball in front of him, Impey knocked it forward at full pelt before collecting it from the ground and looking up to see Conor Macdonald one-out inside 50.
Impey hit him on the chest with a 50m kick. Macdonald then went back and booted truly.
That’s three kicks from one end to the other and a goal. Sam Mitchell, you are a coaching genius.
The Bombers enter the final term a player down.
Jordan Ridley was subbed out after a head knock and Kyle Langford has pinged his hammy.
It makes the task even tougher for Essendon, needing to overturn a 32-point Hawthorn lead.
Let’s see what they have got.
The Bombers have been outclassed for almost the whole contest so far and trail by 32 points at three-quarter time, but they’ve kept fighting. Now we’ll see if they can keep it up in the last, or if they’ll fade away completely…