By Marcus Uhe
A percentage-boosting win over Park Orchards has seen Rowville leap into third on the Eastern Football Netball League Premier Division ladder and just one win behind the top-two sides.
After being outscored in the first quarter, a ruthless Hawks side kicked 10 unanswered goals in the second to stamp their authority on the contest in the 17.14 116 to 6.10 46 result.
Jake Arundell was the chief destroyer in the second, kicking the first two and another later on, and star forward Lachlan Wynd and midfielder Lachlan McDonald added a pair of their own.
Despite the difficult conditions, Rowville’s ball use was largely unaffected, still prepared to kick short to find targets and generate overlap run.
Park Orchards, meanwhile, hardly disturbed their forward 50 in the second term and were made to repel endless forward thrusts from their opponents throughout.
The Sharks put the breaks on the rampaging Hawks in the third term by holding them to just a single major, but conceded a further five in the last to see the margin balloon out.
It was Rowville’s highest score of the 2023 campaign to date, which is rolling along at serious pace, having won six of their last seven, including their last four.
Fuelling the scoreboard ascendancy on Saturday was a diverse spread of goalscorers, as nine managed to join the scoring party.
While Wynd only kicked two, his lowest tally of the season, McDonald and Arundell finished with four each to reduce his workload.
The Hawks will face a challenge to keep their momentum rolling next week, when they head to Blackburn, boasting an almost identical run of form.
