The opponent to Southern United in this round was third on the ladder, Hawthorn. The previous encounter was a fast paced narrow win to Hawthorn (3-2) in early May. The weather was very different then, as on this Saturday it was cold and windy with a leaden sky. No sooner had the whistle started play, than the rain came down steady and consistent throughout the match.
It was a cautious thrust and parry from both teams as they looked for openings. Most of the time it was a mid-field game with both sides having few circle penetrations and fewer goal shots. Hawthorn scored their first goal from the field in the 14th minute through a well set up attack on goal. This was countered in ten minutes when Striker Todd McHardy made a long, controlled solo run through the field and then passed off to a well-positioned Michael Pearce who scored.
In the 23rd minute though, Hawthorn earned a Penalty Corner and Josh Hawes planted a low, hard shot wide of the ‘keeper David Hammond to go to the half time break with a 2-1 lead. This probably reflected the match to this point.
Early in the second half, the irrepressible Rowan Yeo put in a penalty corner rebound to level the score. It was a significant spur and the Strikers moved up a gear to force another corner in the 32nd minute, which was again converted by Yeo.
In the dying minutes of the match, Hawthorn’s tempo intensified to a level not encountered by the Strikers this season. In the 34th minute they applied immense pressure on the Striker defence and scored a field goal to level at 3-3. However, they were not done yet and hurriedly took the ball back the centre and mounted another attack. This too proved fruitful when, with 15 seconds left on the clock, they found a way to score the winning goal! It was an electrifying finish to a match played in less than ideal conditions.
Goals:
Todd McHardy (28.50)
Rowan Yeo (PC 39.58)
Rowan Yeo (PC 67.05)
Hawthorn:
F (14.24); PC (30.00); F (69.10); F (69.45)
Result: Hawthorn 4 – Southern United 3
