Richmond coach Danny Frawley breathed a huge sigh of relief after his Tigers hung on to beat Hawthorn by one point in their round six AFL game at Telstra Dome.

Under siege all week and booed and spat on at the ground last Friday, Frawley and his men left the ground triumphant as the Tigers won 12.12 (84) to 13.5 (83) in the most dramatic of circumstances.

With scores level with less than two minutes left, Richmond onballer Tim Fleming put his side in front when he ran into goal from 35 metres out and kicked a behind.

But Hawthorn had the chance to pinch a win when Richard Vandenberg was awarded a free kick 50 metres out from goal with 51 seconds remaining after being tripped by young Richmond defender Brent Hartigan.

In a remarkable finish, Vandenberg's kick failed to make the distance and Richmond big man Ray Hall marked on the goal line as the Tigers held on to record a stirring win.

It could have been more misery for Richmond, which looked in real danger of letting slip a 35-point lead from early in the second quarter after a pulsating seven-goal opening quarter.

Hawthorn fought back well after quarter-time and drew level when Angelo Lekkas soccered a goal with three-and-a-half minutes left in the game.

While Richmond was delirious at breaking its four-game losing streak, Hawthorn's loss was a mortal blow to its season and Hawks coach Peter Schwab - whose side has now lost its past five games - is likely to have plenty of sleepless nights this week.

In a superb game given the two sides sat 14th and 16th on the ladder and had not won since round one, Richmond captain Wayne Campbell was outstanding across half-back, ruckman Brad Ottens excellent and small forwards Rory Hilton (three) and Nathan Brown (two) kicked five first-half goals between them.

For Hawthorn, Mark Williams kicked five goals and kept his side in the hunt, captain Shane Crawford was brilliant after being towelled up by Brown in the first half and ruckman Peter Everitt (two goals) was great in his 200th game.

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