By Marcus Uhe
Rowville survived a second-half Seebeck Oval shootout with Norwood on Saturday to claim its fifth win of the Eastern Football Netball League despite the absence of star forward Lachlan Wynd.
Both sides kicked eight goals in the second half but it was the Hawks’ five-goals-to-two in the first hour of play that proved the difference in the 13.11 89 to 10.9 69 result.
Norwood kicked the opening two goals of the contest as the Hawks searched for alternative avenues to goal without Wynd, who had been selected for the Box Hill Hawks in the VFL.
Defender-come-forward Kyle Stainthorpe was thrust into the role of full-forward, and took to the task well early, kicking his side’s first two to even the ledger.
The Rowville defence was firing on all cylinders in the second term, holding the visitors goalless while extending their lead to 20 points at the long break.
While Norwood was giving nothing away in the contest, and appeared to have the ascendency in possession and field position, the Hawks’ back six were supported by the retreating midfielders to ensure the goals remained undisturbed.
It would take the opening stages of the third term for the visitors to rediscover the scoreboard, and they quickly found another to cut the lead to single figures.
The moment called for a steady head to calm the nerves, and there was no better man to deliver that calming presence than Matt Davey.
The veteran kicked two in 60 seconds to restore a 15-point buffer, and another to close the quarter, in a return to form, having kicked only two goals to date in 2023 prior to Saturday’s contest.
With just a 21-point lead at three-quarter-time, the game was very much in the balance, and given Rowville’s propensity to collapse in final quarters earlier in the year, Norwood would have felt in the hunt.
The first goal of the quarter was going to go a long way to determining the outcome, and when the visitors landed the first blow, flashbacks to the Noble Park and Balwyn games would have loomed large for those watching in brown and gold.
But goals to Zac Greeves and Jake Arundell in quick succession alleviated the tension, giving the Hawks a 27-point lead, their biggest lead of the match.
Both sides played goal-for-goal in the final stretches, but the Hawks held on for their fifth win in their last six outings.
Noble Park is back on the winners list, having comfortably handled bottom-placed Park Orchards on the road.
The Sharks kept pace with the Bulls early, with both sides kicking four in the opening term, before the reigning premiers pulled-away in a dominant performance to finish 18.14 122 to 9.7 61 winners.
After quarter time, the Bulls kicked 14 goals, where their opponents could only muster four, and finished the game with a scoreless final quarter.
Park Orchards opened the scoring in the second term to retake the lead, but a Bulls blitz of five goals in 15 minutes quickly separated the two sides.
Jackson Sketcher and Chris Horton-Milne both snagged classy goals in congestion by snapping around the corner in tight confides, and Lachlan McDonnell had the crowd in awe as he drilled a 50-metre drop punt into the leading arms of Ben Marson.
The forward then finished the play with a set shot deserving of the earlier brilliance, to establish a five-goal lead shortly before the long break.
Liam Scott’s height was proving a handful for the Sharks defence, and twice on the counter-attack he was able to find superior field position running back to goal, to capitalise on the Bulls’ pressure further afield in the third term.
The spring off halfback was a real weapon for the Bulls, who made the Sharks pay for skill errors in their forward half.
The Sharks kicked the final two of the third quarter to remain in the hunt at three-quarter-time, but Noble Park slammed the door on any chance of a comeback with the final five goals of the game.
Key forward Scott kicked five and was adjudged best-afield for the Bulls, continuing his strong goalkicking form with 11 in his last three, and in the midfield, star recruit Jackson Casey has found his groove beautifully, having been named in the best for Steve Hughes’ side in five of their seven encounters.
At Balwyn, Berwick was always going to have its work cut-out to match its winning effort of the week prior, and the task ultimately proved too much in the 54-point loss.
The Wicks were slow out of the blocks, held scoreless in the opening quarter while conceding three from 10 shots on goal, and hit the sheds at half time trailing by 47 points.
Berwick’s defensive group were under siege early, repelling repeated forward entries as the Tigers’ pressure around the ball gave them first use at the contest.
When Berwick was able to mount a charge going the other way, they were often forced wide when going inside 50, leading to difficult shots, leading to stoppages or turnovers.
Poor kicking for goal from Balwyn kept the margin tight despite dominating the game, but a freekick against Joseph West in Berwick’s defensive 50 on the siren and resulting goal was a crushing blow for a group that had worked so hard early in the game.
Early in the second term, the floodgates opened.
Five goals in the first 13 minutes of the period, four of which coming from within the goalsquare, blew Berwick away before half time.
The margin was in-excess of 50 points before Berwick had their first major of the game, having conceded the first eight of the contest.
A strong showing in the second half went some way to repairing the scoreboard, but ultimately the damage had been done earlier in the game by Brendon Sanderson’s ladder-leading Tigers.
Charlie Muley returned to his goalkicking form from earlier in the season with three, and in a positive sign for the club, Harrison Money kicked two in his second game back from injury.
Having been whacked with the injury stick once again in 2023, the long weekend will give the likes of Tim Gunn and Jai Neal critical extra time to recover before their next contest against East Ringwood.
Rowville also has this weekend off, while all eyes will be on Balwyn Visy Park as the Bulls battle Balwyn in a standalone clash on Saturday afternoon.
