Summary Carlton's veteran coach Malthouse was disappointed with his side's poor effort in opening quarter.
MELBOURNE (AP) - The Hawthorn Hawks won their club record-equaling 12th consecutive match to remain in first place in the Australian Football League on Sunday with a 21.17 (143) to 12.13 (85) victory over the Brisbane Lions.
The win, which equaled a 1961 streak when the Hawks won their first AFL title, left Hawthorn four points ahead of Geelong. The Cats, who rebounded from a last-quarter fadeout to the Lions last week to beat Fremantle, kept the Dockers without a goal in the first quarter and scoreless in the third on the way to an 11.19 (85) to 7.2 (44) win.
The Sydney Swans kicked the first five goals of the game, including two by Kurt Tippett, to beat Carlton 8.17 (65) to 5.13 (43) in driving rain in Sydney.
Carlton's veteran coach Mick Malthouse was disappointed with his side's poor effort in the opening quarter.
"We haven't trained or played in the wet in months, so it was always going to take us a while to adapt," Malthouse said.
"When you give up the first quarter and you're four-odd goals down on a night like this, it's very hard to drag it back."
Port Adelaide beat Collingwood 13.8 (86) to 7.9 (51), with Port's Justin Westhoff and Jay Schulz both kicking three goals each and midfielder Brad Ebert collecting 30 disposals. Adelaide trailed by 13 points after the first quarter but recovered to beat the Gold Coast Suns 16.15 (111) to 11.17 (83).
Essendon defender Jake Carlisle booted a clutch 49-meter goal from the boundary line to help lift the third-place Bombers to a 15.8 (98) to 13.13 (91) comeback win over West Coast. The Eagles led by 23 points late in the third quarter.
Jack Watts kicked a career-best four goals as Melbourne beat the Western Bulldogs 15.13 (103) to 15.10 (100), just the Demons' second win in 13 matches.
