Hawthorn VFLW continued its impressive winning streak on Saturday, defeating the Southern Saints by 21 points at Box Hill City Oval.
With both teams sitting inside the top six, the Round 8 clash marked one of the Hawks' closest contests yet.
Dominique Carbone opened the scoring early before Hawthorn continued to control the quarter with strong forward pressure keeping the ball in its half.
Both teams were met with aggression from the opposing side, but that didn’t stop goals from Emma Humphries and Izzy Khoury widening the score.
The second quarter saw skipper Tamara Luke add to the scoreboard, swiftly met by St Kilda’s first goal of the game.
While Hawthorn still had control of the play, the increasing pressure from the Saints meant they weren’t going down without a fight.
By the third quarter, St Kilda had made the ground small for the brown and gold girls, taking control of the play and quickening the game’s tempo.
While the Hawks had a few shots at goal, their accuracy fell away and neither team scored a goal for entire quarter.
Hawthorn Coach Cherie O’Neill amped up the girls at three quarter time, encouraging the team to “do the small things well” and it seemed to be just what they needed to hear.
The Hawks wanted to win, and the fourth quarter saw them take back control of the football.
The final quarter opened with a goal for the Saints, tightening the scores.
But they were no match for Luke who was unstoppable this quarter, scoring two goals in a row.
Slick ball movements from the centre and forward line, and great setups from the likes of Dom Carbone and Eliza Shannon, meant the ball stayed in our forward 50 for majority of the quarter.
The final siren sounded, and the mighty fighting Hawks took their winning streak to six in a row.
Hawthorn: 3.0 4.1 4.4 6.6 (42)
St Kilda: 1.1 2.2 2.3 3.3 (21)
Goals
Luke (3), Carbone, Humphries, Khoury
