Box Hill has suffered a second loss of the season on Sunday afternoon to the Western Bulldogs.

After four consecutive games at Fenjiu Stadium, the VFLW Hawks travelled to Footscray to play in the back half of a doubleheader at Whitten Oval. 

It was the Hawks who got the first score of the game through one of Hawthorn’s newest AFLW recruits, Sophie Butterworth.

But from there it was the Dogs who pulled together a trio of goals to lead by 15 points at the first break. 

The second term was a quarter of just two majors, with the first coming from the Bulldogs in the very early stages.

The Hawks' goal came through AFLW forward Sophie Locke at the 18-minute mark, still trailing by 13 points come half-time. 

Quarter three saw a further two goals from the home side, either side of a Hawks goal via AFLW defender Ainslie Kemp, who was named best on ground for the Hawks for her Round 7 performance. The Hawks trailed by 22 points at three-quarter time.

The fourth quarter saw the Dogs slot another two goals, before Box Hill-listed debutant Mia Zielinski had her moment and put through the last goal of the day. In the end, it was a 25-point defeat at the hands of a strong Bulldogs outfit. 

The best players were a balance of AFLW-listed and VFLW talent, with Kemp, Laura Elliott, Tilly Lucas Rodd joined by Captain Tamara Luke, Ellie McLinden and Rosie Dillon rounding out the votes. 

Box Hill                         1.0       2.3       3.3         4.6        (19)      

Western Bulldogs          3.3       4.4       6.7      8.7   (55)

Best: Kemp, Elliot, Lucas-Rodd, Luke, McLinden, Dillon.

Goals: Butterworth, Locke, Kemp, Zielinski. 

Disposals: Baskaran (16), Deed (13), Lucas-Rodd (12), Dillon (9), Thorne (8), Luke (8).

Feature image taken by JM Sacchetta Photography