HAWTHORN   3.5   7.8   10.10  14.18 (102)
GEELONG      4.0   7.4   14.6    15.7 (97)

GOALS 
Hawthorn: Gunston 4, Burgoyne 3, Hale 2, Hill 2, Guerra, Breust, Franklin
Geelong: Johnson 4, Motlop 2, Christensen, Hawkins, Vardy, Bartel, Selwood, Guthrie, Taylor, Murdoch, Caddy

BEST 
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Burgoyne, Gunston, Hale, Birchall, Guerra, Hill
Geelong: Johnson, Motlop, Guthrie, Selwood, Taylor, Stokes, Duncan

Hawthorn advanced to the 2013 AFL Grand Final with an incredible come from behind win over Geelong on Friday night.

The game ebbed and flowed with both teams enjoying periods of dominance, but ultimately it was Hawthorn who was harder and stronger for longer as they kicked the last three goals to win by five points.

All heart

Hawthorn entered the final quarter trailing by 20 points and with the momentum with their opposition.

The Cats had kicked a great snap goal with seconds remaining in the third quarter and many believed it would be Geelong heading to the Grand Final.

But, the Hawthorn players never gave up, even after Josh Caddy kicked a steadier for the Cats in response to a Lance Franklin goal at the seven-minute mark of the final term to put his team ahead by 19 points.

The next goal didn’t come until the 14-minute mark of the final term, as Shaun Burgoyne lunged to pressure Jimmy Bartel and Bradley Hill swooped to kick a brilliant snap goal.

Trailing by 12 points, it was all one-way traffic as the Hawks had an avalanche of inside 50s and finished the stronger, but couldn’t break through a steadfast Geelong defence who continuously took intercept marks deep inside their defensive 50.

Eventually, by sheer weights of numbers and determination from the Hawthorn players to force Geelong into turnovers, the Hawks broke through with goals to Jack Gunston and then Burgoyne to snatch the lead and indeed seal a spot in the 2013 Grand Final.

The Hawks, who had been finished the home and away rounds on top of the ladder wouldn’t be denied their spot in the Grand Final with each player putting their body on the line, doing everything they could to make the difference to be the different between winning and losing.

An unheralded moment

The game was filled with moments that will be forever remembered and spoken about by fans, but there are a couple that stick out from the second half.

Everyone will recall the decision by the umpire to call play on after Cyril Rioli was awarded a mark, unaware that in fact the whistle had been blown.

As Rioli gestured to the umpire, unaware of what had just transpired, the ball was already in the middle of the ground and Geelong had opened up the Hawthorn defence and ready to extend their lead to seven points.

Josh Caddy took a brilliant mark at centre half forward and in the blink of an eye Steven Motlop had it, then James Podsiadly was running into an open goal.

Then, from nowhere, from at least 10-15 metres back, Ben Stratton used every ounce of will, of pace, of grit to run him down and apply pressure to force his shot at goal wide and through for a behind.

There was nothing but a huge sigh of relief from Hawthorn fans and surely the players themselves for that would have been a cruel blow given what had transpired down the other end.

Winning the one-on-ones

In finals football, it’s your ability to win the hard ball, to win the one-on-one contests that matters and the team that does that better on the day will win.

That’s what happened on Friday night.

In the frantic final term, there were several one-on-one battles that turned the game.

First, there was the Brian Lake intercept mark the back flank in front of the Great Southern Stand, then the brilliant one-on-one win by Josh Gibson who kept his feet as Jimmy Bartel lost his at centre half forward for the Cats.

Gibson was able to gather the football in space and again move the Hawks into attacking mode.

Then, the Stratton mark inside the centre square as Geelong pressed again, and then a few minutes later, the Stratton mark on Hawthorn’s forward 50 as the Cats began to panic in the dying minutes.

Breaking it down

When looking at the stats, it’s almost unbelievable that the game was so close.

When the Cats led by 20 points at three-quarter time, they had had 10 less inside 50s than Hawthorn (44-34) and had taken just six marks inside 50 compared to Hawthorn’s 13.

They had also had 19 less effective kicks but the same amount of scoring shots at 20 apiece.

The difference, they were much more accurate than the Hawks.

In the final quarter though, Hawthorn, though wasteful in front of goals having kicked 2.10 to 1.1 gave themselves the best chance to win the game by winning the ball and getting it inside 50 to score.

The Hawks had 20 inside 50s to eight and an incredible 34 contested possessions to nine (the Hawks trailed the contested possession 96-123 at three-quarter time).

They also won the clearance nine to six.

The Hawks also used the ball best when it counted, raising its disposal efficiency from 70 to 72.1 and its kicking efficiency from 64 to 66.5.

Geelong’s efficiency on the other hand dropped from 69.6 overall to 67.1 and from 65.9 to 63.6 by foot.

The Hawks also took a massive 16 marks inside 50 to six – Geelong didn’t take one mark inside 50 in the final term.

The Hawks also had 91 more disposals overall – an extra three players on the ground if broken down into an average of 30 disposals.

Sam Mitchell

The Hawthorn star was everywhere on Friday night and was the player who seemed to just always be there for the Hawks when they needed him.

He won the ball in close, he sat off packs refusing to get drawn in and won the footy when it popped out the back.

He used the ball with perfection and his vision to find teammates in space was almost better than anyone else on the ground.

He finished with 38 disposals, 11 clearances and eight inside 50s. His leadership too was just as valuable as his disposals.

It was arguably his best ever game for the Club.

Shaun Burgoyne

A lot has been said about his game - he was the player who provided the spark and broke through the Geelong defence when no one else could. He pressured, he kicked goals he did the team things, it was an outstanding game from the Hawks star.

Just like last year's Preliminary Final, Burgoyne has saved his best game so far for one of the biggest games of the year.

He finished with 24 disposals, six tackles and three goals.

Jack Gunston

Gunston is a player who sometimes if forgotten about given the talent and star quality in the Hawthorn forward line. His name is always mentioned after Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Cyril Rioli and even on occasions, Luke Breust.

But, as Hawthorn has done all year, it hasn't relied on one player to kick goals but rather a team effort to allow one player or several players to sneak under the guard and do the damage.

On Friday night that player was Gunston. One of the best set shots in the game, he underlined that reputation by kicking pressure goals and making himself dangerous inside 50 all night.

His performance will give him all the confidence in the world that he can stand up and deliver on the big stage heading into the Grand Final.

He finished the game with four goals and 21 disposals.

What the coaches said

Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: "We said to our players at three-quarter time, 'Just because they've got their noses in front now doesn't mean we can't come back and have our moment in the sun as well'.

"And so they just dug in and persevered.

"We've worked hard as a footy club over the course of this year and wanted to give ourselves a chance to try and get back into a Grand Final.

"So the boys dug deep and it was great to get the win in the end."

Geelong’s Chris Scott: "We're all devastated, understandably.

"I think they've just been stellar this season. We have a lot to look forward to.

"We put ourselves in a position where we could've played off in another Grand Final.

"We weren't quite good enough on the night. Hawthorn were."