In a tough clash at Box Hill City Oval, Box Hill Hawks ran away 27 point victors against Sandringham.

The Hawks led by Josh Kennedy (30 possessions, 8 tackles) magnificent in the midfield and Sam Gibson (22 possessions, 5 goals) brought Box Hill to a hard fought victory.

Meaningful the win places Box Hill Hawks in the top four at 4th position on the VFL Ladder with a healthy percentage of 112.60.

Evenly matched goal for goal early, Box Hill’s eight goal third quarter proved the difference.

Heavy tackling and contested possession football played consistent as Sandringham stayed in touching distance until broken toward the end of the third.

Slow-scoring opened the contest with Sandringham forward Nick Sautner pushing through his 800th VFL goal in the opening stages of the 1st term.

Turnovers provided the Hawks with answers. With a late surge, three late goals two via Ben Smithwick saw a slender 1 point lead at the break

Looking for faster movement of the football, Box Hill opened up at 14 point lead mid-way through the 2nd. Sam Iles (27, 6 tackles) well and truly had the Zebras undone in all facets as the Hawks continued to pressure.

Breaking the game open eight goals through the third created the momentum for the rest of the clash. Sam Gibson placed the icing on the cake for the Hawks with a goal minutes before the final siren.

Lachlan McQueen-Miscamble’s holding of Nick Sautner to only 2 goals proved vital to the Hawks victory. Constant spoiling and hard running out of defence by McQueen-Miscamble and Lukas Markovic (19, 10 marks) allowed the Hawks to fire down back while the Zebras searched for other means of displacing Box Hill defensively.

Hawthorn Rookie Hayden Kiel (26) looked classy while Cameron Pedersen (2 goals) and Liam Shiels (25) tirelessly worked around the ground.

Brendan Whitecross (23) also brought a large Box Hill City Oval crowd in rapturous applause with “Mark of the Day” late in the third complemented with a goal making the mark even sweeter.

Unbeaten in its four starts at home, Box Hill faces Werribee Tigers next Sunday 28th June at Box Hill City Oval.

Special for the club, Box Hill Hawks Co-Captain Steve Kenna plays his 50th game for the club. 

Werribee coming off closing down Collingwood at Chirnside Park by 17 points beat Box Hill earlier in the season by 21 points in the inaugural Beyond Blue Cup.

Though now playing at home base, it’s a whole different story.

Box Hill Hawks: 5.3 / 9.5 / 17.7 / 19.10.124   
Sandringham: 5.2 / 9.3 / 12.5 / 15.7.97   

Goals: S. Gibson 5, B. Smithwick 2, A. Yze 2, C. Pedersen 2, B. Whitecross 2, L. Breust, J. Kennedy, L. Shiels, E. Curnow, J. Cass, S. Kenna

Best: J. Kennedy, S. Gibson, H. Kiel, S. Iles, C. Pedersen, L. McQueen-Miscamble