TOE-to-toe fray made Shark Park look like a boxing ring as Dodges Ferry knocked out the Central Hawks to remain undefeated in the SFL.
The Hawks attacked the Shark's match-winning running style early but their lack of fitness meant the Sharks smelt blood and the home side took a chunk out of their opponents in the final quarter to win by 72 points.
The Hawks swooped on the chance to score early in the first quarter with three swift goals but the Sharks soon bit back in congested play, where possessions seemed to be dominated by umpires.
The Sharks shook off the Hawks' continued attempts to douse their usually fluent play in the second quarter, largely because of domination in the ruck.
The quick centre breaks gave Sharks Jack Siggins and Fabian Churchill the chance to take Dodges Ferry to a 54-32 half-time lead.
It was a stalemate in the third quarter, with both
defences virtually impenetrable.
Sharks defender David
Cusick was ferocious across the backline.
The Hawk that seemed to be everywhere, Jonny Paul, urged his team-mates to look at their jumper and remember who they were playing for, as they trailed by 23 points at three-quarter time.
But despite the young gun's best efforts, the Hawks failed to replicate his inspiring hunger for the ball.
Frustrations boiled over in the final quarter and melees outnumbered the Hawks' inside 50s.
Isaac Bennett led the sharks to victory, keeping the Hawks scoreless in the final term to win 17.15 (117) to 7.3 (45).
Sharks' coach Danny Ling admitted it was the most pressure his team had been under this season.
``The Hawks are always hard to beat and they always play a physical game, which is why it took us so long to shake them off,'' he said.
``But we're hopeful of an improvement before next week.
``We had a lot of our good performers out of form or just kept quiet by opponents, which we can't afford to let happen against some of the other top teams.''
New Norfolk remains clear ladder leader, smashing Sorell 37.16 (238) to 4.7 (31).
Kingborough more than doubled Cygnet's score to win 22.15 (147) to 10.10 (70).
Huonville continued Triabunna's losing streak, winning 27.11 (173) to 8.10 (58) and Claremont defeated Brighton 21.13 (139) to 15.10 (100).
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