ADELAIDE has ended Hawthorn’s slim finals hopes with a 27-point win against the reigning premier at the MCG on Friday night.

The Crows trailed by 31 points late in the first term but they rallied in the second, booting five unanswered goals to lead at half time.

Despite a four-goal second half from Lance Franklin, the Crows were good enough to take the win, 13.16 (94) to 9.13 (67).

Crows forward Trent Hentschel booted four goals in just his third game in two years while Franklin was Hawthorn’s only multiple goalscorer.

The Hawks started the game with an intensity rarely seen this season and they piled on the first three goals in rapid succession.

A volleyed effort from Cyril Rioli was the pick of the bunch as they blanketed the Crows in the opening exchanges to lead by 19 points midway through the first term.

It took almost 20 minutes to James Sellar to attempt Adelaide’s first shot at goal but he missed from 40 metres out.

In contrast, Jarryd Morton made the most of a fortunate bounce minutes later to snap the Hawks’ fourth goal in a row and Jordan Lewis capped a fine start to his 100th game with a major.

Thompson gave the Crows a glimmer of hope with a clever bouncing goal late in the term to cut the margin to 25 points.

Neil Craig’s quarter-time words had some effect on his Adelaide charges as they added the first three goals of the second quarter, with Kurt Tippett providing a strong target.

When Hentschel kicked truly 20 minutes into the term, the Crows had taken the lead for the first time.

Thompson’s second goal late in the quarter put the visitors nine points up at the long break.

After a rollercoaster first half, the third term was a more even affair as both sides shared the first four goals.

Franklin booted Hawthorn’s first two majors while Crow Richard Douglas produced a spectacularly acrobatic effort at the other end.

Hentschel showed his eye for a goal hadn’t deserted him during his injury-enforced absence from the game with three majors for the quarter.

The Crows led by more than five goals late in the term but Franklin added his third to reduce the gap to 23 points at the last change.

Franklin added the first goal of the final quarter from point-blank range to give the Hawks some hope.

However, Chris Knights bobbed up for his first of the night not long afterwards and the Hawks couldn’t generate enough chances to seriously challenge the Crows thereafter.

Hawthorn  5.3  5.5  8.10  9.13 (67)
Adelaide  1.2  6.8  12.9  13.16 (94)

GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 4, Lewis, Sewell, McGlynn, Rioli, Morton
Adelaide: Hentschel 4, Thompson 2, Porplyzia 2, Tippett, Vince, Doughty, Douglas, Knights.

BEST
Hawthorn: Lewis, Franklin, McGlynn, Mitchell, Bateman.
Adelaide: McLeod, Hentschel, Doughty, Vince, Thompson, Edwards, Johncock.

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Campbell (hand)
Adelaide: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McBurney, Chamberlain, Meredith
Official crowd: 32,583 at MCG

Full match report to follow…

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.