HAWTHORN, somehow, never led on Friday night until a young player who spent the previous fortnight in the VFL finally kicked his side in front midway through the final term.
The Hawks never trailed again, going on to complete a dramatic 9.13 (67) to 9.9 (63) victory over a horribly out-of-sorts Collingwood to snap a four-match losing skid and climb out of the bottom four.
Mitch Lewis, sporting some war wounds around his right eye, received a somewhat generous free kick with 14 minutes played in the last quarter and elected to adopt a Ben Brown-like lengthy run-up.
Lewis had already hit the post on a much-closer set shot earlier in the term, knowing the Hawks' scoreline read 6.11 – a week after kicking 9.17 in a narrow defeat to West Coast.
The strapping 20-year-old, in just his ninth game at AFL level and considered Jarryd Roughead's successor, made no mistake to send the brown and gold faithful into raptures.
It was the third of four consecutive goals in 12 minutes that shot Hawthorn ahead, including two to second-gamer Ollie Hanrahan, after falling 18 points behind in the last term.
The Hawks had managed the same number of majors for the preceding three-and-a-bit quarters to that point.
The Pies twice threatened to snatch the game off the Hawks, but Luke Breust made his 200th match one to remember when he ran into an open goal to give his team just enough breathing room.
Will Hoskin-Elliott's second goal of the night cut the margin to three points with less than two minutes to play but the Hawks held their nerve.
Jaeger O'Meara had three of his seven clearances in the match-winning push, while defenders James Sicily and Jarman Impey were outstanding throughout the game and Isaac Smith relentlessly produced offence.
Jarman Impey dashes away from Mason Cox. Picture: AFL Photos
It was the unlikeliest of finishes, given Collingwood looked to have killed the match as a contest when Hoskin-Elliott kicked his side three goals clear early in the final term.
That followed what seemed Jordan De Goey's game-breaking moment late in the third quarter.
Brodie Grundy's tap into space in the Pies' 50 presented the half-chance De Goey needed to stalk the Sherrin, then snap a sensational goal to give the Magpies a 10-point three-quarter time edge.
A Magpies line-up short on confidence and that was "bloody embarrassed" – in coach Nathan Buckley's brutally honest words – at its meek performance against North Melbourne was there for the taking.
Instead, the Hawks were their own worst enemy over and over again.
It was more of the same from them, after Alastair Clarkson spoke on Thursday morning about his side's competitiveness this year but bemoaned its lack of "polish" at the same time.
The tone was set for a strange Friday night at the footy that ended in the same fashion.
Fortunately for Hawthorn, it was able to salvage the night just in time.
Alternatively, there is now serious doubt about Collingwood's premiership credentials, with the finals rapidly approaching.
Tom Phillips, Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury won plenty of the ball without their usual impact, but defender Darcy Moore added to Jack Gunston's underwhelming season.
MEDICAL ROOM
Hawthorn: The Hawks' medical staff took a close look in the third quarter at Mitch Lewis, who copped a poke in his right eye, but he returned to play a key role in the win.
Collingwood: Josh Thomas received treatment on his hip pointer in the third term, but was able to play the game out.
NEXT UP
Having ended their four-match losing skid, the Hawks will now go after back-to-back wins on Saturday week against Fremantle in Launceston. The Magpies will be desperate to emerge from their mid-season rut when they face reigning premier West Coast for the second time this season next Friday night.
HAWTHORN 1.5 3.8 4.9 9.13 (67)
COLLINGWOOD 4.0 5.4 6.7 9.9 (63)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Breust 2, Hanrahan 2, Lewis 2, Hardwick, Worpel, McEvoy
Collingwood: De Goey 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Mihocek, Treloar, Cox, Daicos, Sier
BEST
Hawthorn: Sicily, Smith, Impey, Lewis, Hardwick, Worpel
Collingwood: Crisp, Treloar, Sidebottom, De Goey, Moore, Phillips
Fans' Best on Ground, in partnership with Google: James Sicily
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil
Collingwood: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Meredith, Findlay, Fleer
Official crowd: 66,407 at the MCG
