Jaeger O’Meara rescues Hawthorn in comeback win over Carlton
A midfield masterclass by Jaeger O’Meara pulled Hawthorn’s season back from the brink with the Hawks fighting back from a six-goal deficit before having to withstand a late rally from Carlton.
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A midfield masterclass by Jaeger O’Meara pulled Hawthorn’s season back from the brink as the Hawks scraped home in a five-point thriller against a confident Carlton with a blistering second half in Launceston.
Hampered by injury last year and struggled to find his best form, O’Meara announced he was back to his brilliant best in the Hawks 13.15 (93) 13.10 (88) win.
O’Meara gathered 43 possessions and even when the Hawks were made to look second-rate in the first half, he was still the best player on the ground.
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Hawthorn was humbled in the first half and its season looked in danger slumping to a tortuous 3-3 win-loss return.
But the second was a brown and gold avalanche, with the Hawks piling on 10.12 goals to 5.6 after halftime.
Hawthorn’s intensity clearly shifted up a gear and with Ben McEvoy getting the better of Blue Matthew Kreuzer at the taps, O’Meara, Liam Shiels, Daniel Howe and Tom Scully generated the forward momentum to power the fightback.
Carlton opened its assault with a 6.3 to 2.3 first quarter and improved its margin to 31 points by halftime.
Blues big men Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern, Levi Casboult and Jack Silvagni pulled down a combined nine marks and kicked six of the side’s eight first half goals.
At that stage the Blues were on track for their first back-to-back wins in almost two years, until Hawthorn came out firing in the third quarter.
It took Tom Scully one minute to post the Hawks’ first goal and their ferocious attack on the ball carrier and used of the ball set up a 5.5 to 1.3 third term to cut the margin to five points at the final change.
Hawthorn’s onball unit stepped up its intensity, led by a magical O’Meara.
The Hawks took the lead for the first time in the game when Chad Wingard kicked his second goal two minutes into the fourth, making it six of the last seven goals to the Hawks.
Carlton brought its fans alive with back to back goals — Lochie O’Brien took back the lead at the six minute mark and Ed Curnow made it eight points with his brilliant running goal two minute later.
The Hawks replied with two, and when Shiels kicked his third at the 15 minute mark the Hawks made it the third lead change for the quarter.
Carlton reduced the margin to five points and the ball was marked inside 50m by McKay only seconds after the final siren, robbing them of a shot at goal for victory after the siren.
HAWTHORN 2.3 3.3 8.9 13.15 (93)
CARLTON 6.3 8.4 9.8 13.10 (88)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Shiels 3, Breust 3, Wingard 2, Lewis, Scully, O’Meara, Roughead
Carlton: O’Brien 2, McKay 2, McGovern 2, Petrevski-Seton, Curnow, Dow, Casboult, Silvagni, Kreuzer, Cuningham
BEST
Hawthorn: O’Meara, Shiels, Sicily, McEvoy, Impey, Scully
Carlton: Thomas, E. Curnow, Cripps, Walsh, Petrevski-Seton, Jones
INJURIES
Hawthorn: TBC
Carlton: Charlie Curnow (knee soreness) replaced in selected side by David Cuningham, Simpson (hamstring tightness)
Reports: James Cousins (Hawthorn) for striking Sam Petrevski-Seton in the fourth quarter
Umpires: Stevic, Fisher, Glouftsis
Official crowd: 15,888 at Launceston
Originally published as Jaeger O’Meara rescues Hawthorn in comeback win over Carlton