TRAILING by 26 points early in the first quarter wasn’t the way Box Hill Hawks Coach Marco Bello expected his side to start its finals campaign.
But the Hawks put a slow start behind them to fight back into the contest, before claiming a 40-point victory against Footscray in their VFL qualifying final at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday.
Bello said his side’s fightback against the VFL’s reigning premier had been pleasing.
“The result in the end was what we were after – it gives us a week off and a chance to play in another grand final,” Bello said.
“They had a 26-point lead about 10 to 12 minutes into the first quarter.
“It was a number of things – there’s not one thing to pinpoint – but we were probably a little bit shell-shocked early on, after the first couple of goals especially.
“I was really pleased that we were able to change that around.”
The Hawks kicked six goals to one in the second term to take a 19-point lead into half-time, before establishing a six-goal advantage at the final change.
Key to the Hawks’ turnaround was getting control of the ball and playing the game of their terms.
“The Dogs had close to a 3-to-1 ratio possession-wise (early), but after that we were able to control the game a bit better,” Bello said.
“We didn’t try to go quick like the Dogs wanted to play… we controlled the footy a bit more and were able to get some goals on scoreboard.”
Bello was full of praise for Dallas Willsmore, who played across all three lines and finished with 5.1.
He said a number of Box Hill’s Hawthorn-listed players had played arguably their best games of the season.
Brendan Whitecross, Jonathan Simpkin, Tim O’Brien, Billy Hartung and Jed Anderson were also named among the Hawks’ best players, while Bello was also impressed by swingman Ryan Schoenmakers.
“That was probably Whitecross’ best game for the year, Schoey’s best game of the year for us, and Jed Anderson is improving each week," he said.
“Tim O’Brien, that was probably his best game, and Dallas finished with five and had probably his best game too.
“The guys are getting up and about at the right time of year.”
The win earns the Hawks are week’s rest, before they take on the winner of this week’s semi-final between Sandringham and Collingwood in a preliminary final on Saturday 19 September.
