Box Hill v Williamstown Semi-final 2 Sunday August 31st 10am
Box Hill will be battling the top-of-the-table placed Williamstown for an elusive ticket into the Grand Final as the Hawks put everything on the line with a double chance protecting their efforts.
The Hawks stamped out an impressive 119-point victory over the Northern Blues last weekend to finish off the home and away season on a high. This marked their sixth win this year with a winning margin exceeding a century.
Peter McEvoy has been an outstanding inclusion since his transfer at the beginning of the year. Consistently a target in the forward fifty and a dynamic X-Factor for the Hawks, the younger Big Boy McEvoy will need to produce his magic double fold in this finals campaign.
McEvoy leads the goal-kicking tally with 56 goals for the entire AFL Development League with Williamstown’s Andrew Gallucci trailing by 23 goals in second.
Williamstown is no stranger to kicking a bag of goals despite McEvoy’s prolific credential. Its final send-off match for the home and away season was an emphatic 144-point win over Sandringham.
This Sunday’s match-up may not be the high-scoring affair as predicted on paper though. Both squads’ last meeting endured a kick for kick fashion until three-quarter time when the Hawks managed a three-goal breathing space to push themselves over the line by 11 points in the end.
But, the Hawks had an urge to overcome Williamstown. The Seagulls snatched the first victory of their recent encounters in the opening match of the season by a single point.
Hailing above Box Hill by a game and 22.52 per cent, Williamstown will head in to the match up as hot favourites. Sam Gibson, Michael Thompson and Jake Summers will be in charge of stopping the mighty forward pressure of the Seagulls especially off the boot of Gallucci.
From the big picture, Hawks will be hankering for redemption of a larger variety. This finals meeting will have the ring of 2013 Grand Final about it when Box Hill lost its grip on the flag by a single point with the Seagulls snatching it away.
Both teams have dominated at the northern end of the ladder for the entirety of the year and have been superior in the scene for the past three years making finals consecutively.
Every encounter has a history behind it between Box Hill and Williamstown and this weekend’s will be no different. There’s a high chance that both teams will face again in the Grand Final for a second go at the big prize.
Although both clubs go into the match with a game a piece against each other, the Hawks have a burning vendetta from last year that eclipses Williamstown’s lofty position up top.
It won’t be a thrashing but it will be thrilling. Box Hill travels to Victoria University Whitten Oval to take on Williamstown in the second semi-final this Sunday at 10am.
