PORT ADELAIDE 4.2 8.3 11.7 15.10 (100)
HAWTHORN 2.3 4.4 10.6 13.8 (86)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Monfries 4, Wingard 3, Gray, Hartlett 2, Boak, Polec, Schulz, Mitchell
Hawthorn: Gunston, Breust 3, Lewis, Burgoyne 2, Birchall, Shiels, Hartung
BEST
Port Adelaide: Boak, Ebert, Polec, Wines, Cornes, Wingard
Hawthorn: Lewis, Suckling, Burgoyne, Smith, Gunston, Shiels, Schoenmakers
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Monfries (ankle)
Hawthorn: McEvoy (corked leg)
SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Angus Monfries (ankle) replaced by Aaron Young at three-quarter time
Hawthorn: Ben McEvoy (corked leg) replaced by Jonathan Simpkin at half-time
Official crowd: 52,233 at Adelaide Oval
The teams
PORT ADELAIDE
B: J. Hombsch, A. Carlile, J. Impey
HB: M. Broadbent, J. Trengove, J. Pittard
C: J. Polec, T. Boak, K. Cornes
HF: A. Young, J. Westhoff, A. Monfries
F: R. Gray, J. Schulz, C. Wingard
FOLL: M. Lobbe, O. Wines, B. Ebert
I/C: M. White, H. Hartlett, D. Cassisi, K. Mitchell
Emerg: P. Stewart, J. Neade, B. Newton
HAWTHORN
B: M.Suckling R.Schoenmakers T.Duryea
HB: W.Langford B.Stratton G.Birchall
C: J.Lewis L.Hodge L.Shiels
HF: I.Smith J.Gunston B.Hill
F: P.Puopolo D.Hale L.Breust
FOLL: B.McEvoy B.Sewell S.Burgoyne
I/C: M.Hallahan J.Ceglar B.Hartung J.Simpkin
Emerg: K.Cheney A.Woodward T.O’Brien
Hawthorn were defeated by Port Adelaide in the only meeting between the two sides during the home and away rounds.
Without a number of key players including Cyril Rioli, Sam Mitchell, Brian Lake and Josh Gibson through injury and Jarryd Roughead with suspension, the young Hawks were ultimately run over by a near full-strength Power in a tight final term.
Adding to the list of casualties for the Hawks, Ben McEvoy was injured in the opening minutes and despite manfully playing on, was subbed out at half time.
The Power led by as much as five goals midway through the third quarter before two quick goals from Vice-captain Jordan Lewis and two more from youngster Billy Hartung and Luke Breust got the Hawks back within seven points at the final break.
The task of overcoming a red-hot Port Adelaide proved too much for the young Hawks, with the Power kicking five goals to three in the last term to run away 14-point winners.
The Hawks won all the key performance indicators including disposals (418-351), contested possessions (158-143), tackles (74-62), inside 50s (55-47) and clearances (45-41) but ultimately lacked polish with ball in hand.
They wasted a number of opportunities coming out of defence and through the midfield that could have helped it secure victory, which probably came down to the inexperience of the midfield with Will Langford, Mitch Hallahan and Jonathan Simpkin all required to play key roles.
In contrast, the Power used the ball with devstating effect, hitting targets and hurting the Hawks with their run in transition from defence.
Lewis was outstanding for the Hawks, playing arguably his best game for the year as he carried the midfield without teammate Mitchell.
The hard-at-it midfielder finished with a game-high 38 disposals, nine clearances, six inside 50s and two goals to be Hawthorn’s best on the night.
Jordan Lewis did his best to lead the Hawks to victory.
Jack Gunston and Luke Breust did their best to lead the forward line in the absence of Roughead, kicking three goals each, while Shaun Burgoyne booted two.
Ryan Schoenmakers was brilliant in defence, restricting then-Coleman Medal leader Jay Schulz to just six disposals and one goal. Schulz also failed to take a mark for the game.
For the Power, skipper Travis Boak was enormous with 34 disposals, 10 clearances, seven tackles, seven inside 50s and a goal, while Chad Wingard was at his electrifying best up forward with three goals.
Angus Monfries proved a handful, booting a game-high four goals before being subbed out at three-quarter time with an ankle injury and Brad Ebert was also prominent with 28 touches.
What the coaches said
Hawthorn's Alastair Clarkson: "We just lacked a little bit of polish, we were pleased with our endeavour, we hung in there when the game looked like it could have slipped away from us early on."They're certainly a very, very good football side and they're proven that to all and sundry that have played against them but they're by no means unbeatable.
"I think we showed that tonight."
Port Adelaide's Ken Hinkley: "We know we're pretty strong in the last quarters most times ... having played Freo, Geelong, Hawthorn over the last month now, you know that at some stage they're going to be in control of the game and you've just got to keep going.
"In [the rooms] when I was just talking to them, it felt a little down – the mood … but I think that was because we'd worked so hard as a group and probably as much as anything they were relieved."
