HAWTHORN has bounced back from last week's blip against North Melbourne in style, the reigning premier showing its trademark class to see off a spirited Adelaide by 12 points at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
The Hawks led at every change, and made their decisive move in the third quarter to propel them to a 15.14 (104) to 14.8 (92) victory that improved their record to 12-4 and returned them to the top of the ladder.
The win was Hawthorn's fourth in succession against Adelaide, and the Hawks have now won five of their past six games overall.
The Crows missed a chance to jump into the top eight with the loss, which dropped them to 8-8 for the season and broke a two-game winning run.
Hawthorn turned the screws in the third quarter, after Josh Jenkins threatened to break the game open for the home side with an eight-minute purple patch that produced three of his five goals for the night.
The Hawks booted three quick goals to reclaim the lead after Jenkins' blitz, and kept Adelaide out of its forward 50 for 10 minutes to take a telling 16-point lead into the final change.
Hawthorn then all but sealed the result when Luke Breust and Jonathon Ceglar added goals in the early stages of the final quarter, breaking Adelaide's resistance.
Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson praised his side's spirit in the win after its disappointing loss to North Melbourne last weekend.
"We were really disappointed with the way we performed last week on a whole number of fronts," Clarkson said.
"It was a real arm-wrestle for the best part of two quarters … halfway through the third quarter we started to control the game.
"[Our] endeavour tonight was much, much better than it was the week before."
The Hawks had an even spread of contributors, Sam Mitchell (28 disposals) superb in the midfield and Jack Gunston prolific up forward for the second consecutive Friday night with four goals.
Captain Luke Hodge (25 possessions) and Jordan Lewis (25 touches) were also telling contributors for the winners.
Sharpshooter Luke Breust equalled Tony Lockett's record for consecutive goals without a miss – 29 straight – but could have been robbed of a chance to shoot for the record after a bizarre incident nearing the end of the third quarter.
Breust was tip-toeing along the sideline and was a chance to snap at goal when umpire Ray Chamberlain halted play, mistakenly believing he'd heard the siren to end the term.
The Hawks half-forward then blew a chance to claim the record in the last quarter, narrowly missing a set shot from 45 metres. He finished with three goals.
Patrick Dangerfield (a career-best 41 possessions) and Brad Crouch (40) were prominent for the Crows, as was Jenkins before he hurt his left ankle late in the third term and had limited impact thereafter.
James Podsiadly (two goals) was important, and midfielder Rory Sloane was busy.
Despite the loss, Crows coach Brenton Sanderson insisted his players could hold their heads high.
"Hawthorn were the better side tonight without question … [but] our boys were pretty brave I thought," Sanderson said.
"They never stopped trying all night."
ADELAIDE 3.0 7.4 11.4 14.8 (92)
HAWTHORN 4.3 8.4 13.9 15.14 (104)
GOALS
Adelaide: Jenkins 5, Podsiadly 2, Walker 2, Wright, Betts, Lynch, Smith
Hawthorn:Gunston 4, Breust 3, Simpkin 2, McEvoy 2, Ceglar 2, Burgoyne, Duryea
BEST
Adelaide: Dangerfield, Crouch, Jacobs, Smith, Sloane, Jenkins
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Birchall, Gunston, Suckling, Hodge, Simpkin
INJURIES
Adelaide: Jenkins (rolled ankle), Thompson (hamstring)
Hawthorn:Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Scott Thompson replaced by Jason Porplyzia in the final quarter
Hawthorn: Will Langford replaced by Ben Ross in the final quarter
Reports: Nil
Official crowd: 50,321 at Adelaide Oval
