A second 60 point plus victory in as many weeks has seen Box Hill move inside the top four on ladder after defeating the Casey Scorpions on Saturday.

Coming into the match, Casey were sitting second on the ladder, having only dropped one game to Port Melbourne the round before.

Despite knowing that Casey were missing a few key players who had been elevated to play for Melbourne in the AFL, head coach Damian Carroll was not expecting to have such a convincing win. 

“We thought maybe it wasn’t their strongest side of the year,” he said. “But to our boys credit we, we also thought we had a couple of key players out and we just wanted to win that midfield battle.”

Box Hill did win the battle in the middle, finishing the day with 42 clearances to Casey’s 30, with Xavier Murphy, Mitch Hallahan, Sam Iles and Will Langford all notching up five or more each.

Casey got in front early, kicking the opening goal of the match. But their lead only lasted a few minutes before Shane Savage was pushed in the back inside 50 and capitalised with Box Hill’s first goal for the day.

Savage’s goal was followed quickly by one from Iles and then one from Amos Frank, who, after an artful tap from Sam Grimley that directed the fall of the ball perfectly for Frank on the run, kicked the Hawks third goal of the quarter.

Box Hill took an eight point advantage into the first break, but Casey came out to kick the first goal of the second term, cutting Box Hill’s lead back to two points. But that was to be the Scorpions only concession before Box Hill launched a blitzing nine-goal unanswered attack, with Marc Lock, Jed Anderson and Grimley all kicking two in the quarter.

Box Hill played a class above Casey in the second; their ball use was far cleaner and superior, while their on ball pressure made it difficult for Casey to find space when they did have possession and as a result Box Hill turned a two point lead into a 53 point lead by half time.

After half-time however, Casey came out with a bit more intent and a smarter game plan, slowing up Box Hill’s run and congesting their space and kept Box Hill to just seven points for the quarter.

Carroll knows his young side – with only three players over the age of 23 - has to compete better when they have the lead saying, “I just feel we probably had too much time in that we had half a game to, to sort of cough up that lead and you know we’ve got to be better than that. If we were four goals up you know we’d probably lose that game.”

“You do feel a bit worried about patting them on the back too much and you know it’s not great I suppose that you want to be picking at faults at them at all times as well but I think they do, they do play a little bit better on edge,” he said.

Luckily for Box Hill, the lead they secured in the second quarter was enough to survive Casey’s attack and still maintain the lead going into the last, where they regained form and kicked six goals, giving them a percentage boosting winning margin of 60 points.

The win is Box Hill’s third in a row, but Carroll has been more than happy with his side’s start to the season saying, “the whole six weeks has been pretty solid.”

“We maybe could have beaten the Cats, maybe could have beaten Port but we’ve been in each game and we like to think that we are being pretty competitive now as a footy side.”

Next week Carroll and his team will be hoping to make it four on the trot when they take on North Ballarat in Ballarat on Saturday.

Box Hill 3.4 12.8 13.9 19.12 (126)

Casey 2.2 4.3 7.10 9.12 (66)

Best: X. Murphy, S. Iles, M. Hallahan, S. Savage, D. Pratt, M. Lock, W. Langford,      T. Gordon, D. Mirra.

Goals: S. Savage 3, J. Anderson 3, S. Grimley 2, M. Lock 2, A. Frank, L. Lowden, C. Cassidy, B. Wood, D. Wanganeen, P. Lawlor, S. Iles, M. Hallahan,          X. Murphy

34. Jordan Kelly
Stats: 13 disposals, 4 tackles, 9 handballs

Worked hard in defence and used his body well with two hard ball gets and four tackles for the match.

35. Sam Grimley
Stats: 13 disposals, 2 goals, 8 marks

Had success in front of goal and was a handy tall target taking eight marks. Set up fellow Hawk, Amos Frank, with a shot on goal with a clever leaping tap over the back of a Scorpion player. 

37. Jed Anderson
Stats: 17 disposals, 6 tackels, 3 goals

A great game from the youngster who had five clearances in the middle and  two goals within the space of eight minutes in the second term.

38. Mitch Hallahan
Stats: 27 disposals, 17 kicks, 6 clearances

Had the highest disposal count of the Hawthorn listed players and was second overall. Was a workhorse in the middle, clearing the ball and using it effectively.

43. Amos Frank
Stats: 7 disposals, 1 goals, 5 kicks

Kicked an exciting goal in the first quarter. Used his blistering pace in the last to run from defensive 50 almost all the way to attacking 50 to set up Wanganeen with a goal.

46. Dereck Wanganeen
Stats: 17 disposals, 1 goal, 8 marks

Put in a solid four quarter effort, including a magic grab in midair to intercept a kick from a Casey defender in attacking 50 that resulted in one of Grimley’s two goals.

47. Jonathan Ceglar
Stats: 12 disposals, 31 hitouts, 4 clearances

Was the Hawks main ruckman on the day and matched up well in against fellow tall man, Melbourne listed Jake Spencer who stands at 203 cm.

61. Angus Litherland
Stats: 11 disposals, 3 tackles, 8 marks

Used his body well in defence with three body spoils. Was strong overhead taking 8 marks.

63. Kyle Cheney"
Stats: 18 disposals, 13 kicks, 7 marks

A solid worker in defence all day, applied a lot of pressure on ball. Used his body well with five body spoils and 3 hardball gets.

65. Will Langford
Stats: 19 disposals, 5 tackles, 5 clearances

One of the key players in the midfield on the day whose use of the ball created opportunities for his teammates. Was given a tagging job on David Rodan in the first half which he executed well.   

70. Luke Lowden
Stats: 7 disposals, 16 hitouts, 1 goal

A quiet day from him, but spent sometime in the ruck where he was effective. Kicked the first goal of the nine goal run in the second quarter.

71. Shane Savage