Box Hill Hawks claimed a convincing but hard-fought 24-point win over Coburg Tigers on the weekend, reinforcing their position in the top eight. Their win delighting the vocal home crowd, who basked in the rarity of a sunny winter’s day as Catherine Durkin reports.
Aside from the obvious accolades the win would bring to both sides, added incentives existed.
For Box Hill, the opportunity to move into fifth place on the ladder stood tantalisingly before them. As for Coburg, whilst out of finals contention, a win would allow them to end a long losing streak that had seen them drop down the ladder in recent months.
These motivations, as many believed they would, made for an extremely competitive and heavily contested game of football, with the more dominant Hawks only fully pulling away from the ever-pressing Tigers at the very end.
The Hawks controlled possession for much of the first-half. Although their conversion was not at its best, as they squandered several set-shots, their frenetic pace and intense defensive pressure made it difficult for the Tigers to move the ball as freely as they would have liked.
Three goals to Daniel Pratt in the first quarter provided the Hawks with a much needed target, and it was this sort of target that their opponents seemed to be missing as the home team led by 15 points at quarter time.
Box Hill found numerous running targets in the second term, quickly stretching their lead out to a game high 44 points. A late Tigers surge in the quarter closed the gap to 28 points at half time, and made for an interesting second half.
Momentum remained with the Tigers after half time, with a specky from Nick Maric effectively lifting his teammates. Thirty-seconds later they goaled and a Tiger resurgence seemed imminent as they cut the margin to under four goals. But halfway through the quarter the Hawks steadied and despite several efforts from Coburg to get back in the game, Box Hill managed to answer every challenge.
The win allows Box Hill to forget their inaccuracies of previous weeks and acts as a timely steadier in the lead up to the finals. For the Tigers, they too can move on from their horror run over the past couple of weeks, as their competitive display provides at least some hope for the future.
Matt Jones led the way for Box Hill with 31 disposals and gave his side plenty of run with the likes of Mitch Hallahan (30), Chance Bateman (23) and Taylor Gilchrist (24). Stephen Gilham and Tom Murphy steadied the Hawks defence when needed.
David Fahey was the best for Coburg in defence, with Addam Maric leading the way with 36 disposals.
Next week, the Tigers will meet Frankston at home, while the Hawks will travel to North Port Oval to take on Port Melbourne.
Box Hill Hawks 20.16.136 d Coburg Tigers 18.4.112
Photo: Jenny Owens
Last Modified on 06/08/2012 21:49