Another great day for football greeted us at our home ground.   The girls were kicking goals and we were eager to show our wares as well.  A late call up for Wrighty and a chance to see Patty Kinniff in action at last.  Ready for battle we looked good on paper once again and everyone was eager to make amends for our last outing.

The first was messy and once again forward delivery started poorly.  If not for one of our smaller brigade in Cam Flanagan we may have struggled to score a major in the term.  Everyone is trying there hardest but rhythm just isn’t quite there at the moment.  It will come when we play as a team and demand more from ourselves.

The backline was again in charge and delivered the ball forward time after time. Trying a few moves can unsettle the team but we need to know who can stand up under pressure, so some players were out of their regular spots.

We were mostly in charge of play but turnovers cost us on plenty of occasions.  Milde was leading the way with his ability to read the flight of the ball and then use it wisely.  Kinniff was marking strongly, getting into position and beating his opponent hands down.

The Dowers are having a great season and are raising the bar each game they play.  With Carro delivering the ball by hand we should dominate every ball up.  Our opponents work to his dominance and we must mix it up better in coming weeks.

Leading at the long break, the challenge was five  goals in the third, but it wasn’t to be and Ringwood out scored us.  Not with better skills but with more desperation at the ball.  We looked tired in the second half and perhaps the week off will reenergise us. We must play better against stronger teams.  This is our challenge.  We have the players and the skills – we now need to gel it all together.

After the week off we will have several players ready to return from various injuries and once again spots in the team will be at a premium. Training will dictate who pulls on the boots for our next game.

@boroniahawks D Squad Scoreboard – presented by Alchester IGA

Boronia 6.8 44 d Ringwood 6.5 41
Goal Kickers: C. Flanagan 2, S. Bell 2, R. Warren, J. Rambaldo
Best Players: K. Milde, C. Flanagan, D. Dower, N. Carrodus, P. Kinniff, S. Bell.

“If we were going to fly the flag…….” by The Voice in the Outer

A huge day awaited the Hawks crowd as the top two sides were playing off for top spot and bragging rights.  Each side was missing a few regular players but there was plenty of talent on display.

I don’t know how many tosses we’ve won this year, but again we kicked against the breeze in the first.  Ringwood had come to play and took full advantage of the breeze. They worked the Hawker over in our forward half, pressured us around the stoppages and worked harder across the ground.  Robbo Junior took a great mark and kicked true for the Hawkers’ only goal for the quarter.  Ringwood were helped by a couple of very technical free kicks but deserved their 3 goal lead at 1/4 time.

Into the 2nd and kicking to the scoring end, The Hawker started to win a few clearances and we saw five minutes of brilliance by “COLLO” kicking two snap goals from 30 metres to capitalise on the good work out of the guts.  When the Hawker gets its’ hand ball game going even the best sides in the comp find it hard to stop.  The Hawker showed glimpses of the previous eight weeks form but were a bit gun shy to run and carry the footy.  Ringwood showed again that they are a well-structured and well coached side by kicking a couple of late goals to take a 16-point lead into the long break.

The 3rd quarter was played mainly in Ringwood’s forward half.  The Hawker backline competed well against the continual opposition forward entries and held firm for most of the quarter. Kyle Matthews, number 17 for Ringwood, brought his own footy and was devastating by foot and continually set Ringwood up from his team’s defensive side.  The quarter was a real arm wrestle with both sides only kicking a single goal each until Ringwood broke the stalemate, after being awarded another technical ruck free kick in the ruck, to kick their second goal for the quarter to extend their lead to 25 points at 3/4 time.  What I didn’t like was seeing an injured Boronia player on his knees trying regain his breath and an opposition player standing over him, getting stuck into him.  If we were going fly the flag then this would have been the time to do it.

For the first three quarters the Hawker had played very much within themselves, very much non-risk safe football.  Even though we started the last quarter with plenty of energy and looked to negate Ringwood’s defensive setup by playing a seven man back line, we had a number of good opportunities to close the gap on the scoreboard but were continually shut down by inconsistent ball movement.  The quarter finished with both sides kicking two goals each and Ringwood winning the game by 25 points.

Ringwood were the far better side today and deserve to be clear flag favourites.  They have a great setup behind the ball and spread well.  Their general in the backline (number 17) controlled the game all day.  For the Hawks, we had a number of solid contributors, but also had a few boys down on their season form to date.  We didn’t play the footy that we played in the first 8 rounds.  Today we lost, but from what I saw from the outer we have plenty of upside and there is nothing the Hawker can’t handle that was dished up by Ringwood today.   We can close the gap if we get back to our game plan.  We have had a fantastic first half of the season, so everyone enjoy the long weekend and see you when we play Donvale.

Go Hawks.

@boroniahawks Seniors Scoreboard – presented by Knox Club

Ringwood 10.10 70 d Boronia 7.3 45
Goal Kickers: J. Collins 2, B. Wright 2, Z. Robinson, L. McKernan, N. Allen
Best Players: J. Godwin, J. Lake, J. Hannon, B. Rapisarda, R. White.