In the much-hyped battle of the coaches, it was Alastair Clarkson left as happy as the female following of Brisbane’s Rafa Nadal lookalike, and Chris Fagan facing a blind date with Ben McEvoy.

After three largely forgettable quarters, the Hawks flew away with it in a free-scoring final term to win 17.11 (113) to 11.9 (75).

Having lost their much-prized run of 19-straight wins at UTas Stadium to former co-tenant St Kilda a fortnight ago, the Hawks avoided back-to-back Launceston losses for the first time in a decade and in the process recorded consecutive wins for the first time this season.

Of more concern will be an attendance of just 10,553 given that only new franchises Gold Coast (10,121 last year) and Greater Western Sydney (10,513 in 2013) have attracted smaller crowds in the 65 AFL fixtures at the venue.

The supporters that did turn up on a surprisingly sun-drenched Invermay afternoon witnessed a frustrating affair in which Fagan’s Lions repeatedly failed to make their periods of supremacy count on the scoreboard and Clarkson’s Hawks had to wait until the lights came on before finally starting to shine.

Ricky Henderson kicked 3.1 while Isaac Smith, Tim O’Brien and captain Jarryd Roughead added doubles and Tom Mitchell continued to rack up Sam Mitchell-like possessions, ending the contest on a game-high 36.

Hipwood’s return of 2.2 hardly demonstrated Nadal-like efficiency but the 202-centimetre target was a constant handful in the Brisbane attack and joined Jake Barrett and Josh Walker as multiple goal -kickers.

Dayne Zorko and Tom Rockliff both passed the 30-disposal yardstick for the Lions but the latter came off in the dying seconds holding a shoulder which was swiftly returned to its natural domain by a helpful club medic. 

Fagan was hopeful his acting captain would not be joining a lengthy list of experienced players on the sidelines while Clarkson was less optimistic about Cyril Rioli and Ben Stratton who both spent the last quarter with heavily-iced knees.

The match-up may have featured the only two teams to win three straight flags this century but that couldn’t disguise the fact it was a 16th-versus-18th contest littered with stoppages.

But while the action wasn’t always of premiership standard there was still plenty of entertainment to be found.

Vice-captain Liam Shiels marked his 150th game with one of the goals of the day while former captain Luke Hodge produced a non-stop highlights reel ranging from contested marks of staggering bravery to slicing one kick-in straight out of bounds.