2011 VFL Seniors
Box Hill Hawks 4.2 8.6 9.9 12.11 (83)
Sandringham 1.2 5.3 6.5 12.6 (78)
GOALS:
Box Hill Hawks: Lisle 3 Kiel 2 Wanganeen 2 Sketcher Gibson Schneider Ladson Jackson
Sandringham: Lourey 4 Johnson 2 Michaliades Peake Smith Waller Lynch Heyne
BEST:
Box Hill Hawks: Ladson Lisle Andrews Bailey Milne Kiel
Sandringham: Lourey Magner Smith Lynch Peake Heyne
Match Report - By Serge D'Angelo
In Round 1 we snatched a victory in the dying seconds of the game against Coburg. Yesterday at the Box Hill city Oval there would have been a moment of Déjà Vu for all the Zebra supporters as Chris Irving sent the ball forward from a centre bounce as Ryan Gamble snapped the ball just missing the goals leaving us 5 points short of Box Hill’s score on the final siren.
We manufactured a 6 goal to 3 second half in a very strong comeback. In fact our efforts saw us take the lead by just one point in the final minutes of the contest but we were unable to maintain the pressure as the Hawks kicked an easy goal against the run of play. The football gods are very cruel at times. However, you need to take your opportunities as they arise in the 100 minutes of the game and no excuses can be made.
We began well as we kicked into a strong breeze in very slippery conditions. Nick Heyne started the day very well as did Tom Lynch. Our first 20 mins. were most commendable as we played with real purpose and restricted the Hawks scoring while kicking a valuable goal of our own. However, deep into red time we lost focus and let through 3 goals in red time.
Our second term with the wind did not place enough pressure on the Hawks running players as we failed to restrict the opposition scoring. Even though our forwards were able to create 4 goals with Lourey and Johnson doing well, we seemed to uncharacteristically find ourselves second to ball too often and this allowed the Hawks to kick 4 goals as went to the long break with a 21 point deficit.
A number of our players knew they needed to lift their defensive pressure and intensity as the shortcomings of our first half were highlighted by Brett Lovett. The message was to play man on man football and begin to win more contested football.
The response was immediate and effective as our on ballers in Magner, Irving and Smith exerted a great deal more aggression around the packs. The defensive aspects of our game also reappeared as the Zebras did not allow Box Hill any space as Simpkin, Walsh, Peake, Fleming and Clarke repelled many attacks.
The increased work rate from all players stalled the Hawks scoring to only one goal while also adding a goal against breeze. By the end of the third term we had worked our way back into the game.
The final term was easily our best as we simply fought hard to get the ball forward. We began to run and carry the ball as Smith, Heyne, Lynch, Waller, Ledger, Michaeliades, and Crocker provided better delivery to our key forwards. They were able to really assert themselves and kick 6 goals. The untimely loss of Andrews and Johnson in the final term did not help. We continued to create opposition turnovers and reduced their lead significantly.
With only minutes remaining Tom Lynch took a most courageous mark running with the flight of the ball which saw him collide with a Box Hill player and the game had to be stopped as he was carried from the ground with the scores tied.
The play continued deep in our forward line as Box Hill defended desperately and on three occasions they saved scores only to get the ball into their own scoring area and created a loose man to kick a goal. With only seconds remaining we cleared the centre bounce but Gamble just missed as the siren sounded. Not the result we wanted. The upcoming bye will give us time to reflect and continue to improve aspects of game.
2011 VFL Reserves
Box Hill Hawks 1.2 4.10 7.15 9.18 (72)
Sandringham 0.3 0.4 1.9 4.10 (34)
GOALS:
Box Hill Hawks: Kitchin 2 Wallace Cust Purcell Hoegel Cass Thompson Kickett
Sandringham: Stapleton 2 Cathcart 2
BEST:
Box Hill Hawks: Hoegel Thompson Kitchin Nye Tobin Cust
Sandringham: Ferraro Cathcart Mavric Shakallis Smith-Cameron Curren
Match Report - By Mick Ablett
This week saw another opportunity slip by to get a win over some good opposition. After a low scoring first quarter in which we played some very good contested footy laying a season high 24 tackles and shutting Box Hill down time after time, we let ourselves down. In what I can only describe as a non-competitive effort through the second and third quarters where we combined for a total of 15 tackles the game quickly passed us by. On a positive note I challenged our guys at three quarter time to lay a minimum of 15 tackles and to their credit they achieved 21 and as a result won the last quarter on the scoreboard. I have little doubt that the group possess the character that is required to be successful at this level, that was proven by not laying down in the last quarter, however it took a couple of fiery exchanges to spark the boys into action and unfortunately by that time the game was out of reach. I am not a great believer in a lot of statistics thrown around in today’s football, however tackles and contested ball are 2 of the absolute key indicators in success. They go a long way to giving us an indication of where our work rate is at and our mindset also. Therefore it is no surprise we played our best football on the weekend when both these indicators came back in our favour.
Better players for the day included our Captain for the day, Robbie Cathcart who once again led from the front in all forms of the game. He gathered 30 possessions, had an incredible 12 tackles (out of a total of 69), 17 ball gets and kicked 2 goals, in a display of a never say die attitude and the fierce desire to compete as I mentioned above, hence why it is no surprise he was chosen to lead us out on the weekend. He was backed up by Ricky Ferraro (who had been left out of the Senior side this week) who also found the footy 33 times for the day and like Robbie wasn’t shy to put his head over the footy and win the contested ball with 17 ball gets for the day. Tim Mavric was a fine contributor down back, continually putting his head in the hole and coming off his own man to assist his mates and the team while chipping in with 14 possessions and 7 tackles. After a rough couple of weeks Peter Shakallis responded by displaying a lot more aggression at the contest and doing his best to lead the way in this area whilst also gathering 17 possessions. Kiefer Smith-Cameron did his best to hold the defence together with a 20 possession, 7 tackle game along with St Kilda Rookie Tom Curren who worked tirelessly in trying conditions with 20 possessions and 10 ball gets, in another very good game this year for Sandringham. We have a lot of work to do as a group in the maturity of our team and it’s leadership and that is what will be a major focus throughout this coming week leading into the bye. An improvement in both these areas as well as a consistent four quarter effort should see the results start to turn our way. We have a group of guys that off the field are fine young men with nice personalities, however once you step in to the competitive world of VFL football, you need to also possess a fierce desire to compete and a hunger to beat your opponent.
Vince Lomabardi was once quoted as saying “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”, however he was actually misquoted, what he said was “Winning isn’t everything, however making the effort to win is” and once we give that total effort I have no doubt we will see a different result. Go Zebs!
Last Modified on 16/05/2011 10:21