Indy Tahau celebrates a goal for Port Adelaide against Hawthorn in R10, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

PORT Adelaide has put a dent in Hawthorn’s top-two aspirations and kept its own faint finals hopes alive, with Indy Tahau booting five goals and Matilda Scholz starring in a shock 35-point win at Alberton Oval on Friday night.

The Power skipped out to a 35-point lead in the third quarter before the resurgent Hawks slashed the margin to 13 points at three-quarter time.

POWER v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats

But then it was Tahau time, with the former defender booting three goals in a row in a stunning burst that set up the upset 15.4 (94) to 8.11 (59) win.

Tahau was goalless in the first half, but burst into action after the break with her five-goal haul taking her to the top of the AFLW goalkickers list.

The Hawks suffered a blow before the game with ruck Lucy Wales ruled out with appendicitis, with Hawthorn coach Daniel Webster revealing after the match that she had been taken to hospital just hours before the game.

In Wales’ absence, Scholz was dominant, finishing with 21 possessions and 34 hitouts in an outstanding display.

The upset result improved the Power’s win-loss record to 4-6 and snapped a run of four wins for the Hawks, who dropped to 8-2.

“I’m really proud of our group, we’ve obviously had a bit of adversity this year between our wins and losses, and injuries,” Power coach Lauren Arnell said.

“To execute our game style in that way against a top side and respond when the Hawks had the game on their terms in the third quarter shows a lot of learning in our season, and a lot of maturity in a very young group.

“Indy didn’t see a lot of it early, but the message for her as a young player was to hang in there and keep showing up.

“For someone who didn’t play forward at all in the first three rounds, we’re seeing a lot of progress there.”

It was a mismatch on paper, with the second-placed Hawks against the 13th-ranked Power, but the home side leapt out of the blocks with the first five clearances of the game.

In an opening term of wild momentum swings, Port led early through Houghton, the Irish connection of Aine McDonagh and Aileen Gilroy went back-to-back to put the visitors in front, before Houghton’s second restored a four-point lead for the home side at the first break.

The surging Power booted four of five goals to edge further ahead, but Gilroy’s second, a long-range special on the run from the 50m, against the run of play kept the Hawks in touch.

Port’s forward-half pressure troubled the visitors, with Lauren Arnell’s charges leading inside 50s 15-6 in the second quarter, and they pressed home the advantage with the last two goals of the first half, including a brilliant snap in traffic from Ella Boag, to lead by 17 points.

The expected fightback by Hawthorn after the restart didn’t immediately materialise.

With the Power playing irresistible footy, Tahau marked strongly twice to boot the opening two goals of the half and Port pushed out to a 35-point lead when skipper Justine Mules-Robinson kicked truly.

But just when the home side looked set to run away with it with five goals in succession, the Hawks dug deep to reel off three goals in a row, with McDonagh adding her second and third to send her side into the last break with the momentum.

“Their efficiency in the front half was excellent … I thought they were incredibly good and we just didn’t finish our work at the same time,” Webster said.

“We’re just trying to play better football.

“We’ve had some wins, but we know we’ve got to play a better brand, we need to be cleaner in the contest, we need to work harder and there’s some areas that we need to tighten up.

“But by the same token we know that we are good enough.”

It takes two to tango
It was a night of engrossing battles between formidable forward duos, with Indy Tahau and Gemma Houghton at one end and Aine McDonagh and Aileen Gilroy at the other. Houghton set the early pace with two first-quarter goals, and Tahau looked set to break the game open with the first two goals of the second half. McDonagh dragged her side back into it with two late goals in the third quarter, but Tahau gave the Power duo the honours with her superb late blitz in a highly entertaining shootout.

McDonagh makes a move
Hawthorn’s first goal of the night from Aine McDonagh was a sight to behold. The Irish star met a bouncing ball on the wing, turned back toward goal and turned on the jets. With two Power defenders in hot pursuit, McDonagh took a bounce, put a brilliant move on an oncoming defender as she crossed 50, and stroked home a stunning goal-of-the-year contender from 45m out.

Up next
The Power will take on cross-town rivals Adelaide at Norwood Oval on Friday night. The Hawks will battle Essendon at Windy Hill on Saturday afternoon.

PORT ADELAIDE    3.1 7.2 10.2 15.4 (94)
HAWTHORN     2.3 4.3 7.7 8.11 (59)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Tahau 5, Houghton 3, Boag 2, Mules-Robinson 2, Woodland, Pope, Dowrick
Hawthorn: McDonagh 3, Gilroy 2, McLaughlin, Fleming, Bodey

BEST
Port Adelaide: Scholz, Tahau, Woodland, Dowrick, Houghton, Heads
Hawthorn: West, Fleming, Lucas-Rodd, McDonagh, Eardley, Gilroy

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Nil
Hawthorn: Vukic (concussion)

LATE CHANGE
Hawthorn: Lucy Wales, replaced in the selected side by Elli Symonds

Reports: Nil

Crowd: 3,039 at Alberton OvalÂ