Top team too good

by AJ BRADY

IN round 13 action of the VFL, the Freeway Ford Cranbourne/Tattersalls 97.7FM 3SER team headed to Box Hill City Oval to see Werribee storm home to defeat the Box Hill Hawks by 11 points in a thrilling contest.

On an overcast winter Saturday in Melbourne, a strong crowd of around 2500 turned up to see top-team Werribee take on a resurgent Box Hill outfit, with the added incentive of watching dropped Hawk Luke Hodge show his stuff.

Box Hill won the toss and chose to kick to the Davey Street end, though there was no real wind advantage either way.

Coming into this match, Box Hill had been somewhat erratic this season: their best being very good (victory at Sandringham and last week's 50-point win at Coburg), whilst their worst was very ordinary (10-goal losses to both Werribee and Bendigo). Werribee, on the other hand, had been the benchmark of the competition, only losing their first game of the season last weekend away at Williamstown. Despite last week's blemish, Werribee went in as favorites against a Box Hill side who had a less-than 50% record (2-3) at home this season.

In the first quarter, Box Hill began full of running, peppering their forward line and transferring the ball from defence into attack with terrific precision. The work of the likes of Hodge and Bo Nixon in consistently hitting targets with their passes left the Werribee side shell-shocked, going in at quarter-time 22 points down. Both Nixon, Hodge and Harry Miller had eight possessions in the first term.

The second quarter saw Box Hill begin the quarter with a rush, jumping out to a staggering 43-point lead midway through the first quarter. The Box Hill midfield was full of running, with Miller carving Werribee up on a wing, Hodge and Nixon working hard at both ends of the ground, Matthew Ball doing well in the midfield, and Nick Holland and Clinton Alleway providing strong-leading targets up forward. Werribee scored a rush of goals late in the half thanks to some strong contested-ball work by Robbie Castello and Chad O'Sullivan, but still went in at half-time 24 points in arrears, and the game still appeared to be firmly in Box Hill's grasp.

The third quarter started much the same as the second, with Box Hill jumping out of the blocks to lead by over six goals halfway through the quarter, and it again appeared 'how far Box Hill'. With Danny Jacobs and Hodge transferring play well from defence, Zac Dawson winning the battle against gun Werribee full-forward James Podsiadly, and Nick Ries and Trevor Batchelor winning much contested ball through the centre, the Werribee team just looked a shadow of the side who had won their first 10 games of the season. Werribee managed to kick the final three goals of the quarter, thanks to some strong running from Brad Murphy and Damien McCormack, but a three-quarter time margin of 21 points still seemed enough for Box Hill.

The final quarter saw a stunning reversal to the first three, as Werribee came to play in a major way. They played extremely direct and through the corridor for the first time in the match, with the likes of Patrick Bowden, Salim Hassan and Luke Collins coming into the game. Up forward, Podsiadly began coming into his own, taking several strong contested grabs, and despite Box Hill putting two and three defenders on him, the competition's leading goalkicker was unstoppable, taking mark after mark and booting a staggering five goals in the final term to finish with eight for the match, and 54 for the season. Now it was Box Hill's turn to be shell-shocked, as they had no answer to the Werribee procession, after booting two early goals in the term, it was all one-way traffic. The likes of Miller and Nixon, players so prominent in the first three terms, struggled to have an impact as the top team in the competition had it all their own way, finishing Box Hill off to record an 11-point victory in a stunning game of VFL football, which had plenty of contests and direct play from both sides. Werribee consigned Box Hill to just a 33% win-loss record at home so far this season.

Better players for the victors included: ruckman Will Minson, who staked a claim for a return to the Bulldogs senior side with a terrific display in the ruck and around the ground, showing great agility, and when being rested up forward, provided a vaible big-man target during times when Werribee were struggling; Hassan, who worked hard to win a lot of contested ball forward of centre and create opportunities in the forward line for Werribee; Allan, who played mostly deep in defence, and provided a good foil during the first three quarters when Werribee were down, transferring play well on many occasions; Matthew Boyd, who did well through the centre all day, using his sublime foot skills to effect in the centre corridor with his direct passes into the forward 50; Travis Robertson, the ever reliable captain, who worked so hard in packs to win contested balls for his team and to get the ball out of the danger area for Werribee, he came off injured early in the third quarter, but managed to get back onto the ground soon after and still have an impact, despite him being slightly troubled by an injury to his leg; and, Podsiadly, the favorite this year to win the 'Frosty' Miller goalkicking award, put in a stunning final quarter of contested marking and goalkicking to finish with eight goals, definitely the catalyst for Werribee getting over the line in the end.

Best players for the home side included: Ries, who found a lot of space through the centre and used the ball effectively; Hodge, who, while not being absolutely stunning, still gathered around 20 quality possessions, transferring play from defence with proficiency; captain Alleway, who used his height and a great turn of pace to provide a viable forward target up forward for the Hawks, finishing the game with three goals; Nixon, who showed some sublime skills deep in defence and throughout the ground in his precision passing and good in-and-under work; Matthew Ball, who worked hard all day around the ground, winning contested ball and putting his body on the line on many occasions, so much so that he suffered some concussion in the third quarter, a big loss for the Hawks at the time; Clinton Young, who ran hard all day and kicked long and direct into the Hawks forward line, giving tall forward Alleway and Holland a good chance at marking; Miller, who found space really well on a wing and provided great run for the Box Hill side, pumping the ball into the forwards on many occasions; and, Nick Holland, who led well and marked well all day, providing a great contest with his number of opponents and booting four goals for the day.

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