‘AFL Development Hawks thrash Dolphins in second chance’
A fortnight after copping a thrashing at home by Frankston, the Hawks were able to give them a taste of their own medicine at Frankston Oval pulling through victoriously by 105-points, 21.19 (145) to 6.4 (40).
“We’re renowned for some pretty competitive football and we didn’t produce it two weeks ago and then when you have a bye, it makes it worse, you’ve got two weeks to think about and rectify the situation,” Coach Kevin Collins said based on the Hawks’ last match against the Dolphins.
Last Saturday was as competitive and rectifying as Collins would’ve wanted, as both teams kicked off the day firing in the centre of the ground making clean possession hard to come by with players giving all their effort for a successful clearance. Although, the Dolphins made the first impression on the scoreboard with a goal, Box Hill slotted through their first major swiftly in response.
Tom Miles used the ball well and pushed possession inside attacking fifty to set up a goal opportunity for Tom Gordon. Despite the Hawks’ early consecutive goals, the Dolphins were able to close the gap late in the first quarter cutting the lead to 6-points.
Relentless efforts by Peter McEvoy through his second efforts on the ball pressured goal opportunities. Intelligent play by the Hawks’ to control the game saw successful goal conversions one after the other, as they began to build a formidable lead and slowly produce a brand of football that reinforced rectification from their last meeting with the Dolphins.
Pat Lawlor was aggressive with his attack on the football and along with many of his teammates, capitalised on the Dolphins mistakes to facilitate play up field. Box Hill developed an intimidating gap between themselves and Frankston keeping their opponents completely silent on the scoreboard and by half time had a 61-point lead.
Their second half was defined by impressive defensive efforts, particularly through Jake Summers and Tom Goodwin. The Hawks’ run and carry up the boundary line on the grandstand side highlighted the dominance they had of play from one end of the ground to the other.
Collins saw the game through a realistic lens and noticed there was still room for improvement in patches of the Hawks’ match.
“I think our hit ups, so our forwards when they hit up, were good at the stoppages but we can get better – so our connection, while it was good today can get better,” he said.
Box Hill’s final term was momentous, while they did let the Dolphins make a 2-goal impression on the scoreboard, it was their ferocious attack on the ball late in the game that pressured an additional 5-goals upon their winning margin.
Tom Gordon, Matthew Northe and Dallas Willsmore all booted 3 goals apiece, all playing an integral part in the Hawks’ massive victory over the Dolphins.
Collins was proud of the boys’ performance under the pressure of limited resources and thought their effort was impressive considering the quality in the Dolphins form at their home.
“The game was good today because it was a pretty tough day for us, we had our seniors playing down at Richmond and then we had to come up here to Frankston”.
“We had to split all our resources, masseurs and all that sort of stuff so it’s a bit of a challenge and they’re a formidable opponent on their ground so it was a danger game, but it was a good game,” he said.
After travelling home with an immense win, the Hawks’ will look forward to their clash against Port Melbourne at home this weekend.
FINAL SCORES
Box Hill 21.19 (145) defeated Frankston 6.4 (40)
Goal Kickers: P. McEvoy 4, T. Gordon 3, M. Northe 3, D. Willsmore 3, M. O’Donnell 2, P. Lawlor, N. Evans, R. Exon
Best Players: M. O’Donnell, M. Northe, D. Willsmore, M. Thompson, T. Miles, P. Lawlor
