In a Tweet

The Rundown

North Melbourne held off a fast-finishing Hawthorn side to record a 28-point victory. A ferocious 11-goal-to-three first half saw the Roos take a 57-point lead into the main break. But the Hawks did not lie down, bringing the game back within reach with a six-goal third quarter to trail by 27 points. But the discrepancy proved too much to come back from as the Kangaroos maintained their buffer to register their third win of the season. 

Read: Match preview

The Star

James Sicily was the Hawks best player, recording 28 disposals, 11 marks, seven rebound 50s and five inside 50s.

The Moment

The Kangaroos burst out of the blocks in this clash, kicking seven of the first nine goals of the game in a dominant opening quarter. Sharpshooter Ben Brown was responsible for three of those majors, while Jack Ziebell (two) and Jarrad Waite (one) were also busy. Despite a gallant effort from Hawthorn in the third term, Brad Scott’s men left the Hawks with too much work to do as their electric start proved to be the defining factor.

The Coach

"We played against a pretty good opposition and I think the footy world might give a bit more credit to and maybe we should as a footy club, too. They showed us a clean pair of heels in so many facets of the game in the first half it wasn't funny, so to the credit of our players … at least we fought the game out and gave ourselves a chance.” - Clarkson

 

NORTH MELBOURNE     7.5     11.9     12.11     14.14     (98)                  
HAWTHORN                    2.0       3.0        9.2         11.4      (70)           

GOALS
North Melbourne: Brown 4, Waite 3, Ziebell 2, Zurhaar 2, Atley, Hartung, Dumont
Hawthorn: Breust 5, Gunston 2, Shiels 2, Impey, Smith 

BEST 
North Melbourne: Tarrant, Cunnington, Jacobs, Ziebell, Brown, Dumont, Macmillan
Hawthorn: Breust, Smith, Sicily, Henderson 

INJURIES 
North Melbourne: Higgins (concussion), Vickers-Willis (concussion)
Hawthorn: Shiels (lower back)

Reports: Cameron Zurhaar (North Melbourne) for rough conduct on David Mirra (Hawthorn) in the second quarter

Umpires: Dalgleish, Stevic, Gianfagna 

Official crowd: 27,981 at Etihad Stadium