An upset loomed at the main break as the Bulldogs held sway by 26 points after producing an impressive first half of pressure football.

The Bulldogs were relentless in their harassment of the Hawks, whose usual silky skills eluded them as Gisborne forced them into regular turnovers.

In perfect conditions the Bulldogs held the Hawks to just two goals in the first half to open a 26-point advantage at the break, 7.5 to 2.9.

However, in what was a tale of two halves, the Bulldogs were unable to sustain their intensity, while the Hawks responded as you’d expect one of the league’s top sides to do, with the home team orchestrating a 73-point second half turnaround to run out 15.18 (108) to 9.7 (61) victors.

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Like the previous week when they slammed on 15 final-quarter goals against Castlemaine, the Hawks’ most productive term was again their last.

Having kicked six goals up until three quarter-time, the Hawks piled on 9.5 to 2.1 in the last term to turn what had been a one-point advantage at the last change into a 47-point win.

The biggest lead of the game for Gisborne was 27 points early in the third term on the back of their high-pressure play that seemingly caught the Hawks off guard.

However, the Bulldogs’ 27-point advantage quickly evaporated as what had been a sluggish Eaglehawk lifted when required and unleashed a barrage of 9.6 to no score, taking its score from 21 to 81, while Gisborne remained stagnant on 48.

The Hawks kicked the last four goals of the third term and the first five of the last to break the game wide open.

The lift for the Hawks was kickstarted in the centre square through the high-leaping Jonty Neaves in the ruck, while captain Brodie Collins and coach Josh Bowe were able to win plenty of clearances and Jack Fallon again proved how valuable an addition he is going to be for his new side, as did fellow recruit Dillon Williams.

Sean Williams, who kicked two goals in his 50^th game, became busy across half-forward, while key forward Matt Gretgrix kicked four of his five goals in the last quarter.

Eaglehawk’s run of nine consecutive goals finally ended 16 minutes into the final term when Gisborne’s Trent Crosbie marked in the goalsquare and converted from what was a rare Bulldogs’ forward foray in the second half.

Bowe was proud of the response of his side after the Hawks had been on the back foot.

“We knew they were going to come out firing and play a really ferocious brand of footy, but we probably weren’t expecting to be at the level it was,” Bowe said.

“We made a lot of basic skill errors in the first half, but I was really happy with our second half. We started winning more of the contested footy and got our urgency back, which had been lacking.”

The Gisborne side featured three of their VFL-listed players in Matt Goodyear, Crosbie and Darrean Wyatt.

The Bulldogs named ruckman Josh Grabham their best, along with pacy midfielder Ethan Minns and skipper Jarrad Lynch, while Jake Conolan and Thomas Wood kicked two goals each.

“I was really impressed with the way we attacked the ball in the first half and put pressure on, but unfortunately it dropped away in the second half,” Gisborne coach Clinton Young said.

“Eaglehawk showed today you need to play four quarters to compete with the better teams in the competition.”