By Marcus Uhe
The relief was evident on the faces of Rowville players when the final siren sounded on Saturday, having finally secured a win in season 2023.
Two losses, having surrendered a three-quarter-time lead in the opening weeks, had people questioning what was going on with the young Hawks, and whether their success last season was simply a mirage.
This time, the shoe was on the other foot, as Ben Wise’s side kicked four-goals-to-one in the final term to overrun Park Orchards by five points, 12.9 81 to 11.10 76.
Lachlan Wynd was the star of the final quarter, kicking his fourth, fifth and sixth goals of the game to ensure his side remained in the contest.
The quarter could not have begun in better fashion for the Hawks, as Lachlan McDonald burst from the front of the centre clearance and kicked long to Wynd, who was awarded a free-kick after being wrestled deep in the forward line.
The resulting kick cut the margin to seven, and his second a few minutes later had them within a point of Park Orchards and sniffing that elusive maiden victory.
A miracle dribbling goal from the point post extended the hosts’ lead and put a brief halt to Rowville’s momentum, but Wynd answered the challenge by kicking his third for the quarter.
When Brock Coleclough found Zac Greeves at the top of the goal-square, the medium-sized forward seized the moment and kicked truly to put his Hawks ahead in the 16th minute.
The next 10 would see both sides throw their structures out the window and play risk-taking football, with the Hawks desperate to keep their noses in front.
There was fanatical defensive pressure in the back half of the ground and contests to be won in the middle, where Matthew Martini showed why the Hawks targeted him in the off-season with a number of critical ground-ball wins.
The Hawks had trailed at every break, having conceded six goals in the opening term to find themselves 31 points down at the first change.
They managed to put the breaks on their opponents in the second but were wasteful in front of goal, kicking 3.5, though they entered the rooms having halved the quarter-time deficit.
The script flipped in the third, with Rowville kicking four straight to their opponents’ 3.4, leaving the door ajar at the last break.
Similar scenes unfolded at Cheong Park, with Noble Park keeping their undefeated premiership defence alive with a nail-biting four-point win over South Croydon.
A dominant second quarter, in which they outscored their hosts 50-26, gave the Bulls a 19-point cushion at the long break, having trailed slightly at quarter time.
The final quarter began with just 13 points separating the two sides.
Croydon South made a perfect start to the quarter with a goal in the second minute to cut the margin to just over a kick.
Having been accurate in front of goal for three quarters to date, kicking 11.5, final quarter jitters appeared to set in for an experienced Bulls side.
Matthew Nelson missed a gettable goal on the run, and was made to pay full price shortly after when South Croydon kicked their second of the term, reducing the gap to two points.
With the Bulldogs’ midfield winning the arm-wrestle at the contest, Noble Park’s key defenders in Ryan Morrison and Josh Tour were steadfast in the defensive half, and midfielders flooded back with numbers to keep the pressure on and clog space.
Shallow forward 50 entries meant the forward pack struggled to lock the ball into their front half, as South Croydon managed to repel countless entries.
When they managed to force the ball deep, they were unable to take their opportunities, kicking three behinds before their first major.
Blake O’Leary was unable to kick his fifth, hitting the post after a slick spin out of trouble, before they nearly surrendered the lead with a vicious bounce toward the South Croydon goal that just went the wrong side of the goalpost for the Bulldogs.
It wasn’t until the 22nd minute of the quarter when Noble Park registered their first major to settle their nerves.
Chris Horton-Milne, one of their best performers on the day, found Joshua Stern on his own after a stoppage in the forward 50, who kicked truly from a slight angle to give the premiers some breathing space.
That separation was short lived, however, with South Croydon responding immediately to bring the margin back to two points.
The final five minutes were pure chaos as players threw themselves into contest after contest in a desperate search for control.
Jackson Sketcher and Lachlan Quaife did their best to diffuse the situation with a pair of set shots that, while inaccurate, took crucial seconds off the clock, as the experienced pair used all their allotted time to prepare for the moment.
The siren blew in the 28th minute, delighting those in blue and gold whose undefeated streak remains alive, as the scoreboard read 12.11 83 to 12.7 79.
In his first hit-out for the Bulls in 2023, O’Leary kicked four, while newcomer Nathan Noblett kicked two, after nailing five in a dazzling display last week against Berwick.
The Bulls welcome Doncaster East to Pat Wright Senior Oval next week and Rowville will look to heap the pain onto South Croydon when they host the Bulldogs at Seebeck.
