Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has praised the character shown by his players after they came out on top of a wild AFL encounter with Carlton in Launceston.
After trailing by as much as 36 points in the second quarter on Sunday, the Hawks stormed back into the contest in the third term then hung on for a thrilling 13.15 (93) to 13.10 (88) win.
In chaotic scenes at University of Tasmania Stadium, the sides went toe-to-toe in a frantic final term in front of 15,888 fans.
As the clock ticked down Zac Fisher hit the post when a goal would have levelled the scores, then the Blues appeared to have one last shot at victory when Harry McKay marked just inside 50, but he was beaten by the final siren.
Carrying on from last week's breakthrough win over the Western Bulldogs, courageous Carlton played with dash, dare and enthusiasm that unsettled the Hawks in the first half.
Matthew Kreuzer encapsulated the spirit of the display with a brilliant running goal from inside the centre square to set up a 24-point quarter-time lead over the stunned Hawks.
But it was as if the players swapped jumpers at halftime as the Hawks woke from their slumber to slash the margin to just five points at three-quarter time after the Blues went into their shells in response.
"They're proud men who weren't playing to the level that they're usually capable of," Clarkson said of the turnaround.
"A lot of our senior players had significant second halves that allowed us to get back into the contest.
"It was really pleasing to be able to get ourselves in front at the end and win a game of footy that could so easily have slipped away after the way that we started."
To their credit, Brendon Bolton's men found their mojo again in a pulsating final term, retaking the lead after a Chad Wingard goal put the Hawks in front for the first time.
Hawthorn appeared to put an entertaining contest beyond doubt with four unanswered goals but there was another twist with Sam Petrevski-Seton and Lachie O'Brien goaling to set up the stunning climax.
"It's a game of inches, it's a game of quarters, it's a game of seconds, it's a game of contests and we didn't nail those at critical times," a gutted Bolton said after his side slipped to a 1-5 record.
"You've got to be able to adjust and I don't think we adjusted well enough in the third quarter.
Jaeger O'Meara was sensational for Hawthorn with 43 possessions, while Liam Shiels booted three goals.
Patrick Cripps (28 possessions) and Sam Walsh (27) were superb for Carlton.
On another sour note for the Blues, milestone man Kade Simpson, who passed Stephen Silvagni to move into fourth on the club's games played list, didn't feature in the second half of his 313th game after suffering hamstring tightness.
