THE Western Bulldogs have stormed home to record a stunning 19-point come-from- behind AFL win over Hawthorn at the MCG.
Luke Beveridge’s side trailed by a game-high 30 points at three-quarter time on Sunday, but kicked the last eight goals of the contest to prevail 16.10 (106) to 13.9 (87) in front of 39,368 fans.
The Hawks lost Liam Shiels and Shaun Burgoyne to second-half hamstring injuries and couldn’t go with the fast-finishing Dogs.
It was the Dogs’ second thrilling win of the season having seen off a stirring late challenge by Sydney in round one.
The Bulldogs came out on top in the midfield battle, with Jack Macrae (36 possessions), Lachie Hunter (33) and Mitch Wallis (29) all influential.
Josh Schache did the damage up front with four goals, with Billy Gowers and Tory Dickson chiming in with three apiece.
Jaeger O’Meara (30) and Ricky Henderson (29) were important for Hawthorn, but Alastair Clarkson’s men simply ran out of legs with two players down on the bench.
It was a tense end to an enthralling contest between two of the AFL’s better pressure teams.
Fast-starting Hawthorn raced to a 19-point lead before the Dogs organised themselves and hit back through Toby McLean and Dickson to trail by four points at the first break.
Dickson’s second major after the restart gave his side the lead for the first time, but the Bulldogs couldn’t make the most of their new-found midfield dominance.
Beveridge’s team had 19 more inside 50s in the second quarter but managed just one more goal, to Aaron Naughton, to scratch out a four-point halftime lead that should’ve been larger.
The Hawks made them pay, breaking the game open with a seven-goals-to-two third quarter.
But high drama was to come with Schache kicking three of the last eight goals to cap a brave comeback.
© AAP 2019
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.4 5.7 7.7 16.10 (106)
HAWTHORN 4.2 5.3 12.7 13.9 (87)
Goals: Western Bulldogs: J Schache 4 B Gowers 3 T Dickson 3 T McLean 2 A Naughton J Macrae M Wallis T Liberatore. Hawthorn: J Gunston 4 J Roughead 2 P Puopolo 2 I Smith J Cousins J O’Meara L Breust R Henderson.
Umpires: Chris Donlon, Jacob Mollison, Justin Power.
Official Crowd: 39,368 at MCG.
