Last-gasp Bombers shock Hawthorn

Cale Hooker was the hero as Essendon hung on by a split-second to defeat Hawthorn by two points on Sunday.

With 57 seconds remaining in a pulsating final term, Hooker drifted forward to give his side back the lead with a superb snapped goal.

But there was one more twist in the dramatic tale that unfolded in front of 59,866 fans at the MCG.

Cyril Rioli launched the ball into Hawthorn’s forward 50, allowing Luke Breust to surge onto the crumbs, but he was unable to get his goal-bound kick away before the final siren.

Hooker, a defender with just seven career goals to his name, appeared an unlikely hero, but a jubilant James Hird set the record straight after the match.

“We’ve trained all year… with two minutes to go, a goal down, and put someone off the half back and it worked,” Hird said.

“Hooker is the man we’ve had going forward.

“We’ve been doing it so they did it themselves. They know that when a certain part of the game is that’s what they’re meant to do, and they did it.”

The tiring Bombers looked set to be overrun by the Hawks, who led by as much as 16 points in the final term, but Hird’s men kicked the last three goals of the match to record the memorable 12.6 (78) to 11.10 (76) win.

A week after giving up a 41-point lead in a round-one loss to Sydney, the Dons looked set to suffer another heartbreaking loss when they led by 35 points late in the second term only to see Hawthorn come charging back.

Essendon didn’t translate that dominance to the scoreboard early – they led by just five points at quarter-time – but Hawthorn were on the ropes late in the second term.

However, Paul Puopolo and Rioli managed the final two goals of the half to set up the second-half comeback.

Jack Gunston led the second-half charge with three third-quarter goals, but Joe Daniher, who finished with three goals, extended his side’s lead to eight points at the final change.

Essendon were brave, but looked gone as the Hawks finished full of running, led by Jordan Lewis (34 disposals) and Luke Hodge (30) – Jobe Watson (33 possessions) and Dyson Heppell (33) were important for the Bombers.

Important Hawks’ duo Josh Gibson and Sam Mitchell were named for the Hawks on Thursday, but didn’t run out onto the MCG, and their injury woes quickly worsened when James Frawley was subbed out in the first quarter with a pectoral injury.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson refused to use the absence of the three All-Australians as an excuse, instead pointing to his side’s lack of intensity in the first half.

“We shouldn’t have really been in a position to win the game after the way that we played in the first half, but then we did find ourselves in a position where we should never have lost it,” Clarkson said.

“So there’s mixed emotions, but mainly disappointment with the first half and not giving ourselves a decent enough chance to apply any scoreboard pressure early.”