IN Round 17 VFL action today, it was the Box Hill Hawks, Northern Blues and Coburg that came away with the points.
For the Hawks and Blues, the wins help moved them to second and sixth respectively on the ladder, and for Coburg, they highlighted the depth Richmond will have to call on come September.
Tall timber kicks Coburg home
Coburg has won back to back matches for the first time this season, running away from their opponents in the final term for a 74-point win over Bendigo.
Leading by 36 points at three quarter time, Coburg doubled their own score in the final quarter piling on 12 goals to six. The Gold defence struggled on their home ground to contain the tall timber in Coburg’s forward half, with Aaron Edwards (7 goals) and Liam McBean (5) combining for half of the visitors goals.
Adam Saad played a cameo role in the third quarter, kicking three goals for the term.
Similar to their contest earlier in the season, Coburg did not make the most of their early chances, kicking only four goals from their 11 first term scoring shots.
Edwards was the key in the first quarter kicking three goals to set up a 28-point quarter time lead for Coburg.
Despite kicking six goals in the second and final terms, goalless first and third quarters hurt the home side as they struggled to contain Coburg’s centre clearances.
Sam Loneragan was one of the keys for Coburg with over 30 disposals, and was well supported by Ben Helbig, Daniel Venditti and Dylan Grimes in defence (22 disposals).
Bendigo Pioneers’ Sam Heavyside impressed for the Gold, and he was among the best along with tall Troy Kelm and ball magnets Alik Magin and Steve Stroobants.
Box Hill secures double chance, Bombers out of eight
Box Hill Hawks move to second spot on the ladder tonight after a convincing 72-point win over finals contender Essendon.
The Hawks led for all but the first eight minutes of the game, piling on 10 unanswered goals in reply to Joe Daniher’s first goal two minutes into the opening term.
Ironically it was Daniher who ended Box Hill’s 10-goal run, 23 minutes into the third term, with the Bombers’ young gun the only multiple goal kicker for the visitors on the day.
The Box Hill’s back six were the key to the win, with Angus Litherland (Daniher), Kyle Cheney (Stewart Crameri) and Sam Iles across half back locking down the Bombers’ forwards.
The Hawks won each quarter, leading by 16 points at quarter time, 38 at half time and 60 points at three quarter time.
While the Bombers kicked three in row in the final term to limit the damage to their percentage, the Hawks responded, winning the final term with five goals of their own to win the quarter and the match.
Dalton Graham led the way up forward for the Hawks with four goals, followed by Tim O’Brien with three, and Sam Cust and Bryce Retzlaff with two each. Cheney (24 disposals), Iles (27), Litherland and Derik Wanganeen (21) were among the best for Box Hill in their defensive roles, along with Cust and Luke Lowden (18 hitouts/17 disposals).
For the Essendon, Daniher was their only multiple goal scorer with two, with their better players Lachlan Dalgleish (15 disposals), Elliott Kavanagh in his stopping role on Liam Shiels, Dylan Van Unen (18) and Ariel Steinberg (21) in defence.
Blues return to the eight
The Northern Blues returned to the Peter Jackson VFL top eight after an 18-point win over a tenacious Sandringham.
Sandringham led early with the first two goals of the game, but Northern Blues bounced back to tie the scores at quarter time.
The Blues extended this to 13 points at half time, after missed opportunities cost them a larger lead. Kane Lambert, Dave Ellard and Mitch Robinson were causing the Zebras headaches (all with 14 first half disposals), helping push the Blues forward out of the middle.
Levi Casboult started to influence the game in the third term with two of his sides’ five third term goals, as he and Nick Meese shared the ruck duties.
With the Northern Blues leading by 25 points at three quarter time, Sandringham hit back with the first three goals of the final term to get within 10 points of the home side.
A costly turnover by the Zebras led to Andrew Collins kicking his third of the game, and gave the Blues enough breathing space to go on and win.
Collins finished with three goals for the Blues, with two each to Casboult, Tom Bell, Tom Wilson and Lambert.
Ellard (29 disposals) and Lambert (28) led the way in the middle for Northern and were among the best with Casboult, Collins and Aaron Joseph (20)
Adam Cockie had a day out in the middle for Sandringham with 30 disposals and was their best. Cam Shenton (22), Sam Dunnell (24 and 10 marks) and Seb Ross (26) were the other Zebras to impress. Trent Denis Lane led the goal kicking with three, with Beau Dowler their only other multiple goal kicker with two.
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- Click HERE for the updated ladder
SUNDAY GAMES
Williamstown vs Geelong - click HERE to read about their Asian Community Football Day
North Ballarat vs Collingwood
Frankston vs Casey Scorpions
Werribee Tigers vs Port Melbourne
Last Modified on 10/08/2013 20:22