The Box Hill Hawks fought off a stirring third term comeback by Frankston to claim a 30-point win in Round 18 Peter Jackson VFL action.
The third quarter surge by the Dolphins had the top four Hawks searching for answers entering the final term, but the visitors tall timber stood up when it counted to help Box Hill get a step closer to cementing a top four finish with a 9.9 63 to 4.9 33 victory, as Dale Fenney and Alysia Thomas-Sam report.
The Hawks were on a mission to cement their position a as heavyweight finals contenders after a couple weeks of wayward form and started the game strongly with a goal to Mitch Hallahan in the opening minute of the match, quickly followed by Tim O’Brien kicking his first to see the visitors out to a two goal lead.
Frankston was finally able to push forward but were unable to make the most of their opportunities, scoring six behinds for the term to trail by seven points at quarter time.
Both sides struggled to score in the second quarter, with Luke Andrews able to get a quick goal for Box Hill from a turnover; this being the only goal of the term. The Hawks were leading by 14 points at half time, with Frankston still searching for their first goal of the match, after kicking seven straight behinds.
The tall timber of the Box Hill Hawks up forward was highlighted in the early stages of the third term, with three quick goals to Luke Lowden, O’Brien and Jonathon Ceglar giving them a five goal lead.
Frankston started to take the game on, playing on at every opportunity which paid off for the home side. Ben Cavarra commandeered the ball for the Dolphins with his quick pace and Dolphins young gun Nic Newman proved to be a full-fledged ball magnet, finishing the afternoon with 40 disposals as he claimed possessions at will.
After nine straight behinds the Dolphins finally found the goals kicking four straight majors to finish the term, to throw down the challenge to the Hawks going into the final quarter. Ziggie Alwan, Khan Haretuku, Luke Potts and Michael Lourey all helped cut the margin to just eight points at three quarter time.
The Hawks seemed rattled by the Dolphins surge and needed to lift their defensive efforts. And they did.
Ceglar kicked his second goal to help the Hawks back out to a 16-point lead early in the last quarter, as Frankston struggled to find marking options inside 50 due to the defensive work of Kyle Cheney and David Mirra.
Cheney was heroic in defensive fifty getting into awkward positions and being one step ahead of his opponent to take clutch marks in the dying moments of the match.
It was the tale of the final term as Box Hill locked to ball in its forward half to finish the game with two more goals, keeping Frankston scoreless to run out 30 point winners.
Notwithstanding the Dolphins’ ability to get back into the game when they seemed down and out, the Hawks had the class to finish. Box Hill Hawks coach Marco Bello knew the kind of game Frankston can bring at their home ground.
“Take nothing away from Frankston, every time we come out here they’re probably a three or four goal better side and they attacked us pretty hard and we withstood it and then we were able to finish off really well,” he said.
As the Hawks take home yet another hard-fought victory and begin to build momentum into their footy before finals, the Dolphins will be nurturing their youth to be a force in the future.
“You can’t afford to not put pressure on the opposition,” Frankston coach Simon Goosey said about their poor first half after the game.
“We started to use the ball really well and then ended up kicking four goals(in the third term), so we gave ourselves a chance.
“We let ourselves down in the first quarter (and) it took a toll on us on the day,” Goosey said.
This week Box Hill Hawks are back at home taking on Bendigo Gold on Saturday, while Frankston travel to Piranha Park to face Coburg on Sunday.
Photo: Jenny Owens
Last Modified on 12/08/2014 14:25