Hawks' early charge sets up win against Boomers

After some fairly hefty defeats in the past five rounds, the Hawks returned to their winning ways on Saturday.

They travelled almost as far north as the South West Football League stretches to face the second-from-bottom Eaton Boomers, and immediately made an impression on the modest crowd.

Jack McMahon opened the account in the first minute of the game. Soon after, he was involved in a heavy collision and had to be taken off the ground.

He returned moments later, with a huge bandage wrapped around his face. Not exactly the latest in footy fashion, but it didn’t slow him down a bit as he dominated the forward line all day.

The Hawks raced away with the lead, kicking six in rapid succession to finish the first quarter up 38 to 9.

The second quarter slowed down dramatically. Eaton’s midfield stepped up in a big way to keep the visitors quiet, but they couldn’t convert that pressure to the scoreboard. The Boomers managed just two goals in that quarter. But the Hawks only scored two behinds.

With their early charge, Augusta Margaret River were still 15 points ahead at the half time break, but the hosts continued their momentum into the third quarter.

Josh Bowe scored early to bring the game within 10 points, but that was as close as Eaton would get. Simon Moore responded quickly, snapping his first and only goal, then coming back on the next play to set McMahon up with a sharp pass to kick another.

Eaton returned the serve, but McMahon once again delivered for his fourth and final goal of the match. It looked like the Hawks would have the last laugh in the third, but on the sound of the siren, Boomer Scott Tynan put one through the middle to cut the lead to 19.

The Hawks had plenty of opportunities to score in the fourth quarter, but only took full points off one. Seven kicks went for behinds in the final quarter alone. Eaton didn’t have much luck either, kicking none of their three shots for goal.

The Hawks took the win by 28 points. A convincing victory, but had a few of those 16 behinds been a little straighter, it could have been an absolute blowout for a team that looked solid all day.

The Hawks remain 7th on the ladder, with finals still a mathematical possibility. Although, it’s looking unlikely as 5th place Bunbury are set to face Eaton and Dunsborough in the next two rounds – two teams they should beat.

AMR will be away again this weekend as they face 8th place Harvey Brunswick Leschenault. HBL come off a 48 point loss to Donnybrook, who regained second place in a tight contest for best of the rest in which the Dons, South Bunbury and Carey Park sit even on 44 points.

The Hawks’ win pushed Eaton to the bottom of the ladder after Collie beat Dunsborough at home. It was their first home win in 371 days and only their second win this season.

Dunsborough came out of the blocks hot, but a second quarter fight back from the Eagles made it a 1 point game into half time.

Collie carried that momentum, kicking five goals in the third. The Sharks did what they could to fight back, but Collie came away with a 19 point win.