Essendon    4.3      5.4      9.6        13.9 (87)
Hawthorn   6.1     10.6    16.1      22.11 (143)

Goals: Essendon: Hurley 3, Bellchambers 2, Myers, Ryder, Stanton, Colyer, Dell’Olio, Goddard, Kommer, Jetta
Hawthorn: Franklin 8, Roughead 4, Lewis 2, Puopolo 2, Gunston 2, Breust 2, Rioli, Hale

Best: Essendon: Melksham, Heppell, Goddard, Hibberd 
Hawthorn: Franklin, Mitchell, Hodge, Lewis, Guerra, Stratton, Roughead

Essendon were no match for a rampant Hawthorn on Friday night in the third top-of-the-table clash of the 2013 season.

Led by spearhead Lance Franklin who booted eight goals in a best on ground performance, the Hawks moved two games clear of the Bombers at the top of the ladder and one-game clear of Geelong with the 56-point win.

The Buddy show

It is little wonder why Lance Franklin is the most sought after forward in the competition, with the spearhead returning from a two-week knee injury to kick eight goals against a top four side.

Franklin looked refreshed as he booted three goals in a dominant opening quarter and had four goals to his named at half time.

He was moving freely around the forward line, and even pushed up higher onto the wing, to make an impact as a hit-up half forward at times.

Essendon defender Jake Carlisle, who has claimed a number of big scalps this year with his ability one-on-one and athleticism was no match for the dynamic Hawks forward.

Franklin finished with eight goals and 19 disposals.

It wasn’t all Buddy, though

Hawthorn’s delivery into the forward line on Friday night showed why it is one of the most dangerous sides in the competition when allowed time and space.

On a number of occasions, both Franklin and Jarryd Roughead (four goals) were delivered the footy on a silver platter, not having to break stride and leaving the Essendon defence helpless.

At times, the crowd was left only to marvel at the handiwork of Sam Mitchell whose ability to find space in congestion thanks to his “quickstep” evasion that allows him to change direction quickly.

Mitchell finished with 31 disposals, seven clearances, four inside 50s and three score assists.

Luke Hodge was also one of his team’s best with 30 touches and three inside 50s while Josh Gibson’s game from centre half back shouldn’t be underrated.

Gibson nullified Bombers forward Joe Daniher and moved up the ground to be a dangerous run and carry option through the middle.

He finished with 25 disposals at 96 per cent efficiency and two inside 50s.

Shane Savage also further cemented his role in Hawthorn’s best 22 with another good game in the midfield and across half forward. His ability to kick long and to the advantage of his teammates has added another dimension to the Hawthorn side.

He finished with 23 touches at 87 per cent efficiency, five inside50s and two score assists.

The 6-minute period

Hawthorn was dominating the second quarter after taking a 10-point lead into the quarter time break, but Essendon’s defence was holding firm and the Hawks were inaccurate in front of goal.

The Hawks had 10 inside 50s but managed only 0.4 when it was dominating play.

Essendon then took it the length of the field and goaled against the run of play through Michael Hurley to reduce the margin to eight points.

That goal could have been detrimental to the belief and confidence of Hawthorn given it had dominated play late in the first term and early in the second.

Up until the 13 minute mark of the term, the Hawks still hadn’t kicked a goal and Essendon had that one through Hurley at 13.05.

From the centre bounce, however, slick hands from Luke Breust to release Cyril Rioli had the Hawks dynamo run to 60m and kick a long-range goal to once again spark the Hawks and make a considerable dent in Essendon’s belief.

That goal came just 10 seconds after the Hurley goal and began a run of four consecutive Hawthorn goals to Roughead, Franklin  and Paul Puopolo – all of which were team-lifting goals that saw the Hawks take a stranglehold on the game.

In that time, Essendon had only two inside 50s, and each of their disposals was under enormous pressure. 

Their clearances were rushed, if they managed one after a secondary stoppage forced by Hawthorn.

In contrast, Hawthorn's play was clean and precise because of the work rate of the players and the space allowed by Essendon.

They finally had reward for effort from the domination of the second term in which they had 21 inside 50s to 7 and over 60 more disposals than the Bombers.

The Hawks led by 32 at half time, and never, from there allowed the Bombers back into the game.

Too much space

The Hawks love to use their runners to generate quick ball movement and hit their forwards on the lead. They do that by building from half back and using their elite foot skills to hit teammates and release them into space.

To stop the Hawks, you need to apply pressure, and having 27 tackles to half time just doesn’t cut it. That’s what Essendon learnt on Friday night.

Essendon have built their success this season on pressure and forcing turnovers, but on Friday night, Hawthorn denied them that ability through quick and precise ball movement combined with the ability to get numbers to the contest.

Essendon managed only 57 tackles for the match – down on their season average of 62 up until Friday night.

Their lack of pressure enabled Hawthorn to generate a lot of uncontested ball – they had 147 uncontested possessions to 97 at half time and 219 to 150 at three-quarter time before ending the game with 75 more uncontested possessions than Essendon.

Consider those numbers along with the disposal efficiency rating of 77.2 at the final siren and 72.8 kicking efficiency at the end of the game too.

The lowest Hawthorn’s kicking and disposal efficiency reached throughout the game was 70.6 and 75.9 respectively, both at three-quarter time.

Hawthorn also ended the game with 44 effective kicks.

With those stats, it’s little wonder why Franklin and Roughead were spoilt with the service from their midfielders and combined for 12 of Hawthorn’s 22 goals.

Quiet Bombers

Not only did Hawthorn essentially beat Essendon at their own game with their run off half back, but they also restricted the ability of the Bombers to generate their own run.

Courtenay Dempsey didn’t have his usual influence, restricted to only 17 touches and David Zaharakis didn’t have his usual impact, unable to generate much run through the middle. He too only had 17 disposals.

Dyson Heppell had 25 disposals but his impact was well restricted by Jordan Lewis and Brent Stanton was barley sighted despite notching 22 disposals.

The game to play three tall forwards also backfired on the Bombers who in the end, were too top heavy and the versatile Hawthorn defence were damaging on the offensive end.

Joe Daniher was subbed out after managing only three disposals and Tom Bellchambers was average at best with 11 and two goals.

Hurley was the only Bomber to threaten to have an impact, but his influence came as the game was all but over in the final term.

Brian Lake, Ben Stratton and Gibson once again were excellent in defence for the Hawks as was the support they received from the midfielders down back.

What the coaches said

Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: "Essendon play this ground really, really well, so to be able to stop the flow of the way they like to play their footy was really important, particularly early.

"They got away to a bit of a start and it looked like they were getting the game on their terms, but for us to correct that and get in front by half-time was a really great effort by our players."

Essendon’s James Hird: “We were outplayed by a very good team. In the first quarter we were competitive and looked like we were going to be able to go with them for the majority of the game.

“Their ability to beat us up around the contest and win contested footy and then control the ball, that was probably the most disappointing thing.”