Box Hill has moved into week two of the VFL finals series courtesy of a 30-point victory over Sandringham in an Elimination final on Saturday afternoon.
At a sun-bathed Trevor Barker Oval, the Hawks managed to overturn a two goal quarter time deficit to advance into a semi-final next weekend against Geelong at Casey Fields.
The Hawks’ ruck division, which included Max Bailey, Broc McCauley and Adam Pattison helped turn the match during the second quarter.
Midfielders Tom Schneider, Luke Andrews and Xavier Ellis reaped the benefits as Box Hill dominated the clearances during the second half.
Box Hill coach Damian Carroll was pleased with his side’s performance and their ability to turn their form around following a disappointing loss to Bendigo last week.
“We tried to move on pretty quickly (from last week), because we had qualified for finals and we deserved to be playing finals,” Carroll said.
“This is the real stuff now and thankfully we get a chance going into another week.
“I thought both the Box Hill listed and Hawthorn listed boys did the job today and that’s what you need, you need to certainly have all players winning their positions and for us today it was a good solid team effort.”
Hawthorn listed players
38. Mitch Hallahan
Stats: 12 kicks, 6 marks, 9 handballs, 21 possessions
Hallahan continues his impressive second half of 2012, playing on the highly rated Adam Cockie. The Hawk finished with a team high eight tackles.
40. Broc McCauley
Stats: 7 kicks, 4 marks, 1 handball, 8 possessions
McCauley had a massive impact from his 8 possessions. The big man combined well with Bailey in the ruck and finished with a game high four goal haul.
41. Taylor Duryea
Stats: 12 kicks, 3 marks, 6 handballs, 18 possessions
Duryea managed to find a lot more of the football this week and was crucial in the Hawks’ win, on several occasions setting up attacks from deep in defence.
43. Amos Frank
Stats: 3 kicks, 2 marks, 5 handballs, 8 possessions
The livewire struggled to have as greater impact as last week, however he still managed to kick an important goal during the third term.
45. Tom Schneider
Stats: 13 kicks, 2 marks, 14 handballs, 27 possessions
Fantastic all day, Schneider lead the Hawks from the front in midfield finishing with five inside 50’s and a game high 10 clearances.
46. Derick Wanganeen
Stats: 4 kicks, 1 mark, 5 handballs, 9 possessions
Failed to collect a huge amount of the football but his defensive pressure was first class, laying five tackles.
47. Adam Pattison
Stats: 9 kicks, 8 marks, 5 handballs, 14 possessions
Provided a key target up forward for the Hawks. Pattison finished with two goals two behinds.
48. Will Langford
Stats: 13 kicks, 3 marks, 6 handballs, 19 possessions
Solid in defence and was very strong aerially as Sandringham peppered the Box Hill backline with long kicks inside 50.
62. Bradley Hill
Stats: 5 kicks, 3 marks, 5 handballs, 10 possessions
Didn’t have a huge impact from the wing, only collecting 10 possessions. Hill finished the game with three inside 50’s.
63. Kyle Cheney
Stats: 4 kicks, 3 marks, 5 handballs, 9 possessions
Strong in defence. Finished the game with two rebound 50s and three tackles.
65. Xavier Ellis
Stats: 14 kicks, 8 marks, 7 handballs, 21 possessions
One of a number of Hawks to stake claims for senior selection. Ellis’ experience was crucial and stood up early when Sandringham were carrying the momentum to keep Box Hill in the contest.
66. Chance Bateman
Stats: 13 kicks, 6 marks, 4 handballs, 17 possessions
Worked hard all day with Bateman’s trademark gut running a feature of his game. Finished with four inside 50’s.
70. Max Bailey
Stats: 7 kicks, 6 marks, 5 handballs, 12 possessions
Bailey showed his class and was the dominant ruckman on the ground. Finished with 36 hit outs and got dangerous pushing forward earning two goals.
71. Shane Savage
Stats: 14 kicks, 7 marks, 10 handballs, 24 possessions
Another in midfield who helped break the game open in the second half. Kicked Box Hill’s first goal of the afternoon and worked hard all day.
77. Stephen Gilham
Stats: 3 kicks, 4 marks, 5 handballs, 8 possessions
Another Hawk defender who performed solidly. Gilham left the ground late in the last quarter with a right leg injury.
83. Tom Murphy
Stats: 12 kicks, 6 marks, 4 handballs, 16 possessions
Defended well, Murphy combined well with his fellow defenders to keep Sandringham to just six second half goals.
Box Hill Hawks 3.1 8.2 13.5 18.10 (118)
Sandringham 5.1 8.2 10.3 14.4 (88)
Goals: Box Hill - B. McCauley 4, X. Ellis 3, M. Bailey 2, A. Pattison 2, D. Pratt 2, L. Andrews 2, C. Cassidy , A. Frank , S. Savage
Sandringham - M. Marigliani 3, D. Markworth 3, D. Archer 2, T. Curren 2, J. Coleman , B. Peake , B. Dowler , C. Shenton
Best: Box Hill - L. Andrews, T. Schneider, S. Savage, M. Hallahan, T. Duryea, M. Bailey
Sandringham - D. Markworth, S. Dunell, T. Curren, M. Sikora, J. Williams, C. Shenton
