2015 AFL season: Essendon defeats Hawthorn by two points at MCG in Round 2, Cale Hooker the hero
ESSENDON has overcome fatigue and a fast-finishing Hawthorn outfit to win by two points at the MCG, thanks to a late Cale Hooker goal.
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THE Easter Monday trailer predicted a horror show for Essendon.
At 6pm on Sunday night Bombers fans already wanted an encore after one of the most courageous victories in modern history.
In the weekend they celebrated the 1984-85 premierships, they marked coach James Hird’s first MCG visit in 589 days with a two-point heart-stopper in the highest bracket of wins outside of September.
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Cale Hooker was the unlikely hero, Brent Stanton and the man who pressed the siren the clinchers.
Defender Hooker sneaked forward to snap the match-winner with 57 seconds on the clock.
Fifty-eight seconds later Hawthorn’s Luke Breust slammed through a goal, only to have the umpire call time as the ball was dropped to his boot.
It sparked famous scenes as returning club legend Kevin Sheedy walked the boundary waving his scarf as the Bombers belted out the song against the Hawks for the first time since the Matthew Knights era.
Stanton’s moment came as he smothered new Hawk Jono O’Rourke’s snap on goal and it was followed with a devastating Paddy Ambrose tackle, the last of 58 bone-crunching hits applied by these gutsy Bombers.
Before that it seemed, cruelly, the scriptwriter had extended his Easter holiday and handed Essendon the same narrative as last week.
The Bombers squandered a 41-point lead against Sydney and fell 16 points down in the final quarter after leading the premiers by 35 points.
Every football expert upstairs said the Bombers were dead. They would again pay the fitness price of an invisible pre-season, they said.
Punters agreed, with Sportsbet taking seven bets totalling $150,000 on the Hawks at the main break.
But they again found a way to disarm the Hawks, something Sheedy said pre-game would take the collaborative strategic fountain of the league over many weeks.
By the first quarter Hird had that recipe down pat, and in the second the scoreboard finally followed.
Michael Hurley rendered Jarryd Roughead to almost spectator status.
Paul Chapman — minutes after obituaries started to get written about his old Geelong side — caused panic in attack with a pair of first-half goals.
And Joe Daniher, opposed to Ben Stratton with James Frawley (shoulder) subbed, showed his marking is far cleaner than his moustache — at both ends of the ground.
But the dominance was speared by the pressure game, the one Hawthorn seemed to clock against the Cats six days earlier.
The only time explosive Hawk Isaac Smith broke free in the first half, his running bounce was fumbled and five — yes, five — Bombers swarmed from all angles.
It was as if Mr Burns was sitting above, hands clasped, demanding: “Release the hounds”.
The tackle count finished 58-51, but as Chris Judd mused on Saturday regarding hit-outs, there are tackles and then there are tackles.
Helping set the pitiless pressure and tenacious tackling standard was teenager Zach Merrett.
He’s an early draft pick with a neat left foot who attacks every contest like a determined rookie fighting for his football life.
Late second-quarter goals to Paul Puopolo and Cyril Rioli increased Hawthorn’s heart rate, and prompted Jobe Watson to rouse his midfield warriors in the middle of the ‘G before entering the rooms.
Two weeks ago Watson’s men were worried sick they’d be banned from this ground and suddenly they were walking off it with a healthy lead against the Hawks.
Puopolo booted the Hawks’ first two majors — both from frees — and the Rioli snap came with 19 seconds on the clock.
Deja vu, it seemed was on the cards.
When Jack Gunston speared through three third-quarter goals and Jordan Lewis wound up the midfield, it seemed a certainty.
The Bombers have given everything this season and deservedly don’t sit winless alongside the dreadful Gold Coast Suns.
Hawthorn now hopes to draw level on two wins with the Western Bulldogs, epitomising just how strange the start of 2015 has been.
Hird’s side has faced two Grand Finalists and won five quarters, one shy of the three most impressive undefeated sides.
That could spell trouble for Mick Malthouse and his Blues next week.
VOTES
3 Cale Hooker
2 Jobe Watson
1 Michael Hurley
ESSENDON 2.2 7.3 9.4 12.6 (78)
HAWTHORN 1.3 3.5 7.8 11.10 (76)
GOALS
Essendon: J Daniher 3, J Carlisle 2, P Chapman 2, T Colyer, 2 C Hooker, T Bellchambers, Z Merrett.
Hawthorn: J Gunston, 3 L Breust 2, P Puopolo 2, B Hill, C Rioli, J Roughead, J Sicily
BEST
Essendon: Hooker, Watson, Hurley, Heppell, Zach Merrett, Melksham
Hawthorn: Lewis, Hodge, Gunston, Puopolo, Hill, Lake
Umpires: Simon Meredith, Dean Margetts, Nicholas Foot.
Official Crowd: 59,866 at MCG.
Originally published as 2015 AFL season: Essendon defeats Hawthorn by two points at MCG in Round 2, Cale Hooker the hero
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