By Marcus Uhe
A 10-goal-to-five second half saw Hallam relinquish a half time lead, and with it a golden opportunity to claim its first victory of the 2023 campaign against Belgrave on Saturday.
With Belgrave only having won once this season, against the Hawks by just 15 points, the chance for Scott Kerr’s side to create history was there for the taking at Belgrave Rec Reserve.
But too much was left to too few, as the Magpies finished 17.11 113 to 13.10 88 winners.
A stoppage-heavy opening quarter made moving the ball an arduous task, swamped by numbers around the football, desperate to return their sides to the winner’s list.
The Hawks dominated the opening stages, immediately accumulating a large disparity in the inside 50 count, but were unable to maximise their efforts.
Josiah Kyle kicked Hallam’s first with a lovely snap in traffic, but the Hawks would miss their next four shots on goal despite owning the territory battle.
Jack Sharlassian would want his time over, having chosen to kick around the corner from a short distance to goal and missing, where a simple drop punt would have sufficed.
By contrast, the Magpies’ first two entries resulted in goals.
Kyle’s class was evident with his second of the afternoon, reeling in a one-handed snaffle and navigating the breeze to perfection.
That major gave the Hawks a nine-point lead, but by the end of the first term they found themselves trailing by three.
Eager to wipe the deficit, the Sharlassian brothers and Gabriel Bonicelli dominated the second term to quickly establish a 14-point buffer on the hosts.
Harry Sharlassian sharked Jack’s ruck tap and found Bonicelli on his own, before Jack duped the Magpies defenders by faking a shot to find Bonicelli on the lead, the medium forward kicking a second on the bounce.
Minutes later, Jack held-off two defenders in the goal square to mark a clearance from Harry, with the Hawks now in control of the contest.
Much like the opening term, the Hawks were trapping the ball in their half of the ground, Belgrave unable to enter its forward 50 until the 12th minute, in which it immediately scored.
The sides traded majors for the remainder of the half, Bonicelli’s third and a running goal from Rory McIvar cancelling those from their opponents.
Leading by seven points at half time, Hallam hit the sheds with the potential of a coveted first win in the Outer East competition firmly its sights.
Wild goals to Belgrave’s Kyle Nunn and Hallam’s Kyle opened the second half with a bang.
Nunn snapped across his body as he ran towards the boundary line at the creek end of the ground, while Kyle wowed those queuing at the canteen with a checkside on his right boot that defied physics, not bending away from the goalface as you would expect from that pocket.
Rain soon arrived, and so did the Belgrave forward press, limiting the Hawks’ ability to transition the football with any success.
Following Kyle’s checkside miracle, the Magpies kicked the next four to race to an 18-point lead late in the term.
Belgrave’s talls, primarily Chris Campbell and Chris Westcott, were immense across the half back line, too strong aireally for their Hawks opponents.
Harry Sharlassian kicked a long goal shortly before the three-quarter-time siren that looked to spark his teammates into action.
But his good work was bizarrely undone by Nunn, who’s third for the quarter restored the 18-point margin after the siren.
A freekick in the middle of the ground bamboozled much of the 36 players on the park, expecting it to allow the Hawks a final forward thrust but instead going Belgrave’s way.
A long kick inside 50 fell into the hands of Nunn, who converted from distance in what was a savage blow to the visitors.
A nervous opening to the fourth quarter from both sides saw the goal umpires at both ends undisturbed for the first eight minutes of the term.
Kyle had the chance to kick the crucial first goal, but a casual snap around the corner from a basic set shot sailed over the goal post for a behind.
From the resulting Belgrave kick-out, the Magpies flew the ball down the ground and made certain of their chance to convert, stretching the margin to the biggest of the game at 24 points.
Nunn’s fifth goal and another to Campbell grew the margin to 46 midway through the final term, enough to put the result beyond doubt.
Goals to Jack Sharlassian, Beau Gibbs and Daniel Guic added some respectability to the scoreboard, but it wasn’t enough, as frustrations bubbled to the surface late in the contest.
The Hawks can take solace from kicking their highest score of the year to date, and played some excellent football at times, but that first win in the Outer East continues to elude the newcomers.
Alex Kerr was a dominant force in the ruck, while the Sharlassians and McIvor continue to impress.
