Geelong broke its victory drought, defeating a stubborn Box Hill Hawks outfit in a nail-biting contest at Box Hill City Oval last Saturday as Kane Hunkin reports.
In an entertaining game where the margin rarely crept over a couple of goals, the two lowly ranked teams played a style of football which contradicted their respective ladder positions.
Geelong, boasting the inclusion of imposing forward Tom Hawkins and promising youngster Allen Christensen, made the play early, kicking to the Whitehorse Rd end in the first quarter. However, key set-shot misses and haphazard forward line delivery belied the Cats' early dominance.
The second term saw the favoured Box Hill team arrest back the momentum kicking six goals to two, resulting in a narrow seven point half-time lead.
The third term sent a scare through the Geelong camp when key position rookie Ryan Bathie remained on the ground, clutching his chest after an errant knee to the sternum encountered in a centre ruck duel.
The last quarter was a dramatic tussle, with the Hawks holding a slight lead throughout, only to be headed by the Cats in the last 90 seconds of play. The game reached a thrilling conclusion when Box Hill's Tim Northe marked 45 metres out, with less than a minute to play. The left footer struck the kick solidly and accurately but the ball dropped late allowing Cat Casey Tutungi to smartly spoil the ball to the boundary line.
After the game, acting Geelong coach Matthew Egan affirmed the team's enthusiasm, hoping the win motivates the group for the rest of the season.
"We're pumped, the rooms are going off. It hasn't been like this all year, I hope they relish this feeling and [it] keeps us going for the rest of the year," Egan said.
Additionally, the coach highlighted the even contribution of his players, citing their ability to stand up in the match's tense moments.
"I thought our players really stood up when the game counted and that was Allen Christensen and I really liked Motlop's last 10 minutes, thought he was terrific. They [Box Hill] kept pumping the ball in and our backline players were terrific, best game Tommy Gillies' [played] for a while."
Moreover, Geelong co-captain Troy Selwood echoed similar sentiments in the rooms.
"It's just rewarding for all the boys. The last couple of weeks they've played really well, their attitude's been fantastic. It's just good for them to get reward at the end of the day for all their hard work of the last couple of weeks," Selwood said.
The defender also highlighted the work of the back unit as a decisive factor.
"We just had to hang tight in the end. In the second quarter we sort of went away from the accountability side of things but after that we just had to beat them in the contest, one-on-one and I felt as though we did that."
Hawkins (two goals) provided a strong option up forward throughout the day, providing some solid marks at various stages. While Shannon Byrnes looked much better for his second run playing primarily in the midfield.
For the beaten Hawks, dangerous forwards Isaac Smith (two goals) and Derek Wanganeen (four goals) were among the best, with David Hale (two goals) performing a respectable role when rotating between the ruck and forward line.
Geelong will now look to post back-to-back wins when they take on Werribee on Sunday while Box Hill hosts Frankston.
Geelong 11.16.82 def Box Hill 12.9.81
Last Modified on 08/06/2011 07:48