Box Hill has fallen short to a come-from-behind Collingwood by 14 points at a blustery Victoria Park on Saturday.
Jackson Ross’ fourth goal put the Hawks 18-points ahead at the 16-minute mark of the third term.
But Collingwood surged to victory with eight of the last ten goals to record its first win since Round 1.
It was a scrappy and congested affair from the outset at Victoria Park, with a strong breeze giving the Bath Street end of the ground a distinct advantage.
It took 15 minutes into the opening term for the first goal of the match to be scored. Jackson Ross took a brilliant one-on-one mark, then spotted Jarryd Roughead streaming forward out the back, who ran into the easiest of goals.
It left Hawks supporters licking their lips, hoping it was a sign of things to come.
But although dominating the inside 50s 14-8, the Hawks could not add any further majors, as a late check side from Will Kelly put Collingwood seven-points in the lead at quarter time.
The second term held host to the Jackson Ross show.
The rangy forward turned it on, with his clean skills shining bright in an otherwise scrappy affair.
He only needed a minute of the action to record his first goal, an opportunistic boot out of congestion for the side’s second of the match.
His second goal, saw him mastering a set shot that bent back beautifully with the wind.
His third goal, saw him convert a miraculous scissor kick over his head, in the process stretching his side’s lead to 13-points.
Jarryd Roughead was continuing to do damage up the ground, with his laser-like kicks inside 50 hitting up Nathan Mullenger-McHugh and later Mat Walker on the lead.
In conjunction with Kaiden Brand on the last line of defence (17 disposals and 10 marks) and Daniel Howe in the clinches (15 disposals and seven marks), Box Hill had taken advantage of the wind and held a nine-point buffer at half-time.
The third term opened with a Mat Walker special, a clever kick out of congestion deep in attack for his first goal of the day.
Jackson Ross then took a crafty one-on-one mark and made no mistake for his fourth goal – stretching Box Hill’s margin to 18-points.
It proved to be a quarter of ‘almosts’ for club great Jarryd Roughead.
The four-time premiership player roved a tap from a stoppage on the boundary, and just skewed his running attempt at goal to the near side.
Then in the very next play, he flew for a high mark on two opponents, crumbed his spilt chance and floated a snap off his left boot to only fell short on the line.
It was safe to say ‘Roughy’ was causing chaos up forward.
But in light of this, Collingwood began to rally.
Sam Glover started the comeback, being moved forward after a leg injury to Will Kelly and booted two goals towards the end of the term to bring the Pies within striking distance.
In no time, Collingwood had brought the margin down to one-point at the last break, and the contest looked poised to be another nail biter for the two clubs.
But it couldn’t have been any further from the truth.
Collingwood burst out of the gates in the final term, jumping Box Hill to kick three goals within the opening three minutes.
The Pies dominated the midfield battle and streamed forward in waves, putting Box Hill’s defenders under enormous pressure. Box Hill’s seemingly distinct advantage of kicking to the scoring end had disappeared, as the stiff breeze evident throughout the match vanished.
The visitors produced a late respite, courtesy of a Teia Miles goal at the 18-minute mark to bring the margin down to 16-points.
But Collingwood responded to produce the killer blow. A long attempt at goal from Wellings reached Crocker who shielded his opponent from the ball and poked it through for the match-winning major.
It was the final dagger to Box Hill’s heart.
A rapturous applause broke out from the jubilant Collingwood cheer squad in the Sherrin Stand– ringing true at a dark and chilly Victoria Park.
In the absence of in-form Box Hill ruckman Marc Pittonet and Premiership Captain Andrew Moore, Collingwood stood up when it mattered, reigning supreme to win 36 more contested possessions and 26 more clearances.
At the end of the day, that was the game.
The result snapped Collingwood’s five-game losing streak, while it left Box Hill reeling on three wins for the season, having not secured four-points since Round 4.
Josh Daicos starred for Collingwood with 34 disposals, while Alex Woodward was his usual prolific self at the bottom of the packs to accumulate 28 touches.
In the absence of David Mirra, Kaiden Brand was a brick wall on the last line of defence racking up an enormous 30 disposals, 18 marks and five inside 50s.
Jarryd Roughead was influential up the ground with 22 disposals, five tackles, six inside 50s and a goal, while Daniel Howe applied himself in the clinches to record 21 disposals, eight marks and three tackles.
Tom Maloney impressed in his first game back at Box Hill for the season with 21 disposals and 10 tackles while Teia Miles collected 22 disposals, eight marks and a goal.
Box Hill Coach Max Bailey addressed the side’s final term post-match.
“We weren’t on the front foot at the start of the last quarter like I’d hoped we would’ve been,” Bailey said.
“We let them get momentum and then we couldn’t stop it.”
“The way we went inside 50 really hurt us. We only had six or seven marks inside 50 for the game, which is just not enough to be kicking goals.”
“Perhaps there is some confusion around what our system is in that way, or perhaps it’s just young guys just not quite realising what they need to do in each situation.”
Bailey explained the areas of improvement needed for the Round 9 clash against Williamstown next week.
“It’s simple things,” Bailey said.
“It’s our contested ball, it’s not coughing it up, it’s making the most of our opportunities and it’s not allowing teams to get momentum.”
“Sometimes we look at footy games and think we need to over complicate it.”
“For us, I believe, it’s really simple things that we need to fix up,” he concluded.
BOX HILL HAWKS 1.1 5.6 7.8 9.11 (65)
COLLINGWOOD 2.2 4.3 7.7 12.7 (79)
GOALS
Box Hill Hawks: Ross 4, Roughead 1, Walker, Miles, Golds, Mullenger-McHugh
Collingwood: Gallucci 2, Glover 2, Klly 2, Wellings 2, Crocker 1, Howe, Lynch, Ralph
LEADING DISPOSALS
Box Hill Hawks: Brand 30, Miles 22, Roughead 22, Howe 21, Kilpatrick 21, Maloney 21, Meadows 20
Collingwood: Daicos 34, Woodward 28, Quaynor 26, Hustwaite 22, Lane 21
