POOR kicking at goal has proven costly for Hawthorn as they went down by 18 points to Port Adelaide in their round 18 clash at AAMI Stadium.

The final score was 18.13 (121) to 14.19 (103) after the Power led by eight points at half time.

The Hawks were hampered by inaccuracy from key forward Buddy Franklin, who kicked 2.7 and shanked another shot at goal that missed completely despite having  20 possessions.

Jarryd Roughead (2.2) also wasted a couple of opportunities and Ben McGlynn kicked 1.3.

At the other end, Port Adelaide's Robert Gray booted 4.3, Warren Tredrea kicked 3.1 as did Justin Westhoff while young forward Nick Salter booted 2.0.

The Power were ahead by 18 points at three-quarter time but the Hawks threw everything at the contest in the final term.

A long, running goal to Chance Bateman lit the fuse after two minutes but Danyle Pearce nailed an even longer bomb to answer the early challenge.

Hawthorn butchered a few more chances in the next few minutes before Warren Tredrea made them pay by putting through a set shot at the eight-minute mark.

It put the Power ahead by almost four goals and the margin proved too big for the Hawks to recover from. The team continued to fight to the end and created a number of opportunities.

They regularly hit the post and the most frustrating miss came when Roughead tried a short pass after marking 35m out from goal.

But, such was the tide of the day, the ball dribbled through for a behind.

Bateman had a good day for the Hawks, with 27 possessions and a goal, while Luke Hodge and Brent Guerra had 21 touches and two goals each.

Sam Mitchell (28) battled hard to lift his side to victory while Cyril Rioli had a tough duel with Jacob Surjan. Rioli is still working his way back to his best form although he showed glimpses of brilliance and won 21 possessions as well.

Cameron Stokes came into the side at the last minute after Michael Osborne withdrew with tonsillitis but he was relatively quiet with no kicks and eight handballs.

Brad Sewell set the standard in close with six effective tackles and Ben McGlynn did a good job on Pearce.

After a slow and scrappy start to the match, Sewell was able to kick the first goal of the game as Hawthorn’s movement and vision allowed for opportunities inside 50.

After a strong Roughead tackle in the goal square led to a goal, Port Adelaide began to work through the middle of Hawthorn’s strong defensive zone, leading to two goals to the Power within a minute, and leaving Hawthorn only two points ahead at quarter time.

Roughead picked up his second major shortly after the quarter time break, igniting a rapid exchange of goals between the two teams.

Goals were kicked off the boots of Guerra and Hodge for the Hawks, while David Rodan picked up a typically sneaky goal and Shaun Burgoyne showed his class with a clever snap at goal, and put the Power in front for the first time in the match.

The goals continued to fall as each team penetrated easily, and Port Adelaide led by eight points at the end of the 22-goal first half.

McGlynn opened the third quarter quickly for the Hawks, kicking his first goal, before Franklin levelled the scores when his kick for goal hit the post.

Three consecutive Port Adelaide goals, including Gray’s fourth major – a brilliant soccer-style goal from the boundary line – gave the Power an 18-point buffer at three quarter time.

Bateman, Simon Taylor and Franklin contributed with a goal each in the fourth quarter, but Danyle Pearce, Tredrea and Westhoff’s late goals put the win out of the Hawks’ reach.

Hawthorn faces undefeated St Kilda next week in Launceston while the Power head to Perth to take on Fremantle.



MATCH DETAILS

Port Adelaide 5.1 12.5 15.8 18.13 (121)
Hawthorn      5.3 10.9 11.14 14.19 (103)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Gray 4, Tredrea, Westhoff 3, Rodan, Salter 2, Boak, Logan, Burgoyne, Pearce
Hawthorn: Hodge, Guerra, Roughead, Franklin 2, Sewell, Kennedy, Whitecross, McGlynn, Bateman, Taylor

BEST
Port Adelaide: Boak, Burgoyne, Gray, Pearce, Brogan, Rodan, Surjan, Krakouer, Hartlett
Hawthorn: Bateman, Hodge, Mitchell, Brown

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Cassisi (forehead)
Hawthorn: Guerra (shoulder), Ellis (heavy knock)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Ryan, Pannell, McInerney
Official crowd: 25,154 at AAMI Stadium


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