Box Hill Hawks moved one step closer to consolidating their place in the finals with a 12-point win over a fast finishing Coburg at Mantello Holden Oval on Saturday, as Samantha Landy reports.
The Hawks sit in eighth spot on the ladder and are a game ahead of both Geelong and Sandringham with three rounds to play. With a tough run ahead of them with matches against the top two teams, Port Melbourne and Williamstown, it is crucial Box Hill make it two in a row against the Zebras next Sunday to keep their finals chances alive.
“If we can get over next week we’ll start to look then at playing finals,” Hawks coach Damian Carroll said post match.
“At the moment we certainly believe we’re in qualifying position, but we know that Sandringham plays [on Sunday] and they could be level on points, and their run home might even be a little more favoured than ours in terms of ladder positions.”
Box Hill controlled the first three terms fairly comfortably. But Coburg gave the visitors a last quarter scare, cutting the margin to nine points after the Hawks led by 22 at the final break.
Had they kicked more accurately in the dying minutes of the match, the Tigers may have pulled off their second come-from-behind win in as many weeks, following their two-point victory over the Bullants the previous Saturday. The home side sprayed four gettable shots at goal in the final ten minutes, kicking two behinds, one out on the full and another straight to a Box Hill defender.
Both teams were inaccurate in front of goal, but imprecision hurt Coburg the most, a factor that did not escape Carroll.
“No doubt there were probably some set shots in the first quarter that they missed that probably at the end of the game cost them the game,” he said.
The coach admitted he was “relieved” his players managed to hold on.
“Thankfully there wasn’t another ten minutes in the game,” Carroll said.
“Coming off the bye we had a real focus on winning this game, and obviously we got the four points. It probably wasn’t convincing in the end, but certainly we’re pleased with the result and again full credit to Coburg.”
The visitors started the game strongly, booting five goals to one to amass a 24-point lead at quarter time. Coburg had four behinds on the scoreboard before Robert Hicks slotted their first major at the 23 minute mark.
Box Hill extended the deficit to 33-points in the second term. The slippery surface of Mantello Holden Oval made clean disposal difficult, causing an array of turnovers from both sides. The Tigers continued their inaccuracy, but the Hawks also struggled in front of the sticks, converting two goals and five behinds.
Coburg hit back in the third term, reducing Box Hill’s lead to 22 points. Both teams increased their intensity in the aptly named premiership quarter, laying fierce tackles and implementing severe pressure.
The Tigers fulfilled coach Adam Potter’s plea to “maintain their intensity” in the final term, pushing Box Hill right up to the final siren. Coburg forward Rowan Hore had the Tigers’ faithful on the edge of their seats when he booted the first two goals of the quarter to bring his side within nine points of their adversary. But the Hawks managed to hold on, coming away 12-point winners.
Carroll praised ruckman Sam Grimley for standing up after fellow big man Adam Pattison was forced off the ground through injury.
“Sam was terrific,” he said. “It was a day where he had to stand up in his footy because we lost Pattison in the first 15 minutes and the Coburg ruck division is strong through [Andrew] Browne.”
The coach also singled out Tom Schneider, Cameron Bruce and Ryan Jackson for their work around the ground.
Best afield honours went to AFL listed player Ryan Schoenmakers for his work in defence.
“We were really impressed with Schoenmaker’s game as a key back [gathering] 18 possessions and then moving a little bit forward and through the wing area,” Carroll said. “He stood tall when we needed another tall bloke down back, he was really strong and positive in the last couple of minutes there.”
Richmond listed players Jayden Post and Browne were amongst Coburg’s best. They were supported by Ben Clifton, who booted one major, Michael Tanner and Hore, who kicked a match high three goals.
The Hawks victory was somewhat sullied by injuries to Pattison as well as forward Derek Wanganeen and Jarryd Morton. Carroll said post match they did not know the extent of the injuries, but early indications suggest “it’s 50/50 for all of them” to play next week against Sandringham in captain Sam Gibson's 100th game.
Last Modified on 08/08/2011 16:06