It’s a top eight battle that could shape the rest of the season for both sides, when Box Hill Hawks Port Melbourne in Round 12 Peter Jackson VFL action. James Szabo previews Round 12 action.
The teams are hanging onto seventh and eighth spot respectively, after producing some inconsistent results this season. A win for either side would help secure a place within the top eight for at least for a couple of weeks – with teams underneath them nipping at their heels.
Box Hill are currently in a form slump, having gone down to Geelong by 49-points on Sunday and losing four of their last five games.
The Hawks put in a competitive effort against the Cats in the first quarter but were unable to maintain the pressure – but the Cats were able to dominate the rest of the game.
Port Melbourne however, won their last game against Coburg after some mixed results in weeks prior. The Borough went into the game with four wins and four losses after struggling to start well in most games.
Gary Ayres’ side addressed that and made amends, by leading the Lions from start to finish to record a comfortable 29-point win.
The coach was happy with the result and said the win was a reward for their effort.
“I was pleased because it was indicative of how hard we’ve been working over the last couple of weeks and we’ve had that inconsistency in relation to the win-loss column,” Ayres said.
“A six goal first quarter was a good start and we held our own in the second. I think we kicked five to two in the third and then there were some junk-time goals from Coburg in the last.
“We had a couple of things that we wanted to do in relation to certain players and all in all, it was a good result.”
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Port Melbourne notched up a season high record of 11 individual goal kickers on the weekend, which was also something Ayres had focused on.
“Yeah I’m happy with the spread and it’s something we’ve been working on,” he said.
“We’ve certainly had to have a spread of goal kickers because it has been an area that I haven’t been happy with.
“And we’d like to think that from a contribution point of view, it was probably our highest number of guys who won their position or played better than that…from all over the ground.”
Some of those players who made exceptional contributions included Jordan Lisle, Josh Tynan, Tom O’Sullivan, Damien Mascitti, Toby Pinwill and Matt Arnot.
Lisle was terrific with five goals in just his third game of the season and Tyan played a crucial role shutting down Ahmed Saad.
O’Sullivan put in his best performance for the season with 30 possessions, while Mascitti was busy with 21 kicks and four rebound 50’s.
Pinwill had an impressive 31 disposals and seven clearances and Arnot laid six tackles and registered six clearances of his own.
For the Box Hill Hawks in the previous round, Blake Hardwick, Kieran Lovell, Kurt Heatherley, Chris Jones and Will Langford were the best five performers for the Hawks.
Hardwick racked up 13 disposals, five marks and kicked one-goal and Lovell had 25 touches and five clearances.
Heatherley was impressive off the half-back line with his 11 marks and 19 possessions, while Jones took eight marks and kicked two goals.
Will Langford is in contention for a return in coming weeks to the AFL side after a solid six clearances, seven tackles, 21 disposals and one goal.
The game is set to be an intriguing battle from two sides looking to cement a spot inside the top eight. The contrasting style of play from the teams makes the match-up hard to predict.
Port Melbourne are ranked second in the competition for hard ball gets, while Box Hill are ranked last. The Hawks are also last in contested possessions, whereas the Borough are sitting in sixth.
Box Hill however, are ranked third in effective kicks and second in short kicks – which could be used as an indicator to the way the team likes to move the ball.
While the statistics can often help in terms of preparing for a game, Ayres believes those particular rankings aren’t always a clear indicator.
“There are a heck of a lot of stats that mean something, but there a heck of a lot that don’t mean as much,” Ayres said.
“We will just touch on the things that we think are important to our game style, our plan and the way we play.
“I’d expect that Box Hill would be doing exactly the same thing.”
The game is at 2.00PM, Saturday afternoon at North Port Oval, and will be live on 94.1fm 3WBC.
Last Modified on 24/06/2016 23:19
