The Hawker Shopping Early.
We expected a hard, close contest against the Heathmont Jets Football Club for our round 14 clash on their home ground and that’s what we received.
Those who witnessed the Hawkers’ 1st quarter against the Jets would agree that this was 30 minutes of fast, quality, disciplined team footy from the Hawker. From the opening bounce we were hard at the ball, clean with our hands and precise with our foot skills. The Hawker excited their supporter base as they ran in waves, tackled, smothered and took strong contested marks against an opposition who seemed shell shocked and could not match the pace of the Hawker.
A great team effort with the backline holding the opposition to a solitary behind while the Hawker kicked 6 goals 6 to take a 41-point lead into quarter time.
The Hawker knew that the Jets would not lie down. They were playing on their home deck, a large home crowd, hosting a past players day and kicking to the downhill scoring end. The quarter started ok for the Hawker as we matched the Jets’ early goals to keep up the scoreboard pressure. At the 10 minutes mark you could see the Jets building their spread and running game off the backline and across the centre. Their quality players started to get their hands on the ball and distributed with confidence and accuracy. The Jets outscored The Hawker 6 goals 3 to 3 goals to reduce the Hawkers’ lead to 20 points at the long break.
The expectation was that the Hawker would kick to the scoring end and put scoreboard pressure on the Jets. This expectation would be further from the truth as the 3rd quarter was played in close, hard and contested with both sides missing important scoring opportunities. Brayden Bowes put his brand on the game with a great quarter of footy. Harry “Snake” Burgess controlled the Jets’ big forward and the midfield fed the forwards but neither side could not kick a major. The Hawker added 5 behinds while the Jets added 6 behinds for the quarter giving the Hawker a 19-point lead going into the last.
Big crowds circled both huddles as we awaited the last quarter to start. Like the 3rd, the quarter started with both sides playing contested footy. There was a buzz around the ground as the first goal for either side would have a big say in the outcome of the game. First blood came at the 12-minute mark to the Hawker to put a 22-point gap on the Jets. For the next 10 minutes the Hawker contributed a couple of undisciplined acts and this, combined with the Jets’ pressure, allowed the Jets to kick the next 3 goals. We should highlight the fact that the Jets had a number of opportunities to take marks in their forward 50 in the last 2 minutes but some fantastic spoils and one on one wins in contests saw the Hawker take a 4-point win against a very good side.
Five Points
- Always shop early (scoreboard pressure).
- The Hawker puts a 3-game gap on the Jets after the win.
- The 1st quarter gave us a glimpse of the future.
- Josh Hannon marking, Godders run of half back and Damon’s work rate were a highlight in the 1st
- Both sides will get players back to setup an exciting finish to the season.
@boroniahawks Senior Scoreboard – presented by Knox Club
Boronia 10.13 73 d Heathmont 9.15 69
Goal Kickers: B. Bowes 2, J. Hannon 2, L. Hannon 2, Z. Dower, J. Godwin, B. Robertson, B. Rapisarda
Best Players: H. Burgess, J. Bolton, L. Hannon, D. Fairchild, J. Lake, J. Godwin
