Development: Hawks demolish Coburg in season-opener

Box Hill Hawks has kicked off its Development League season in style with a thumping 101-point win over the Coburg Lions at Box Hill City Oval on Sunday.

With miserable conditions greeting both teams, the hawks provided a dominant display after quarter time to stamp their intent on the 2015 season.

Despite the final result, it was Coburg who were first to put points on the board, quickly jumping to an eight-point lead. Lachlan Langford was first and only Hawk to get on the score sheet, kicking Box Hill’s two goals for the first quarter to keep the quarter-time deficit to three points.

With the start of the second quarter came a vastly different Box Hill side, with the Hawks getting the ball rolling with a quick goal to start the second to claim the lead for the first time on the day.

Despite Box Hill’s dominance, the Hawks struggled to truly reflect their assertiveness on the game on the scoreboard, kicking eight second-quarter behinds, as Coburg too struggled kicking six of their own.

It was returning player Marc Lock that broke the trend, kicking a goal from 30-metres out to get the ball rolling for the Hawks.

Speaking after the game, Lock explained some of the issues the team had in the first half, in terms of their lack of accuracy in front of goals.

“There were a few wasted entries in the first half, we were over-crowding the forward line and it’s something we will work on during the week, but we did manage to turn it around in the second half, all-in-all, it was a good result,” Lock said.

The Hawks came off the field at half time with their heads held high, holding a comfortable 14-point lead over Coburg.

Young gun Sam Switkowski showed incredible speed and kicking precision, stepping up early in the second half to kick two clever goals.

Adapting nicely to the wet weather, Switkowski’s first goal was a smart kick off the ground, followed by a classy snap through traffic to finish from 35-metres out in the rain.

Switkowski’s goals were complemented by Lock, who continued his strong return with his second goal of the game, a mammoth snap sailing through, to cap off a forceful third quarter to take the Hawks to a 38-point lead into the final quarter.

Refusing to show any mercy to their foe, the Hawks kicked off the final quarter with a quick goal to Aidan Franetic.

Coburg managed to bring to generate some inside 50’s in the last quarter, but the Hawks defence proved too strong, rebounding quickly to dismantle the Coburg defence.

Once down in the Box Hill forward line, the Hawks were unstoppable, adding goal-after-goal as they put the Lions to the sword.

With the result beyond doubt, Chris Jones snuck in a game highlight goal, sending through a check side kick from 35-metres out on the boundary to cap off a great day for the Hawks.

With over 10 different goal kickers for the day, the Hawks depth proved too strong for the Lions, claiming a 101-point win in the first game of the season.

Box Hill has the bye next weekend in the Development League, before hosting Werribee at Box Hill City Oval on Sunday 10 May.

Goals: Langford 2, Lock 2, Franetic 2, Bond 2, Switkowski 2, Graham, Summers,Fisher, Dimasi, Traynor, Tatupu, Jones