Hawks remain in the hunt for finals after tight victory

Augusta-Margaret River kept their finals hopes alive with a thrilling five-point win over South Bunbury at Hands Oval on Sunday.

A strong breeze to the northern end of the ground had a big impact on the game, with the Hawks kicking the only goal in the final term to win 6.11 (47) to 6.6 (42).

The Hawks came to play, applying plenty of physical pressure to the young Tigers, who were well led by their bigger-bodied players in Matt Giacci and Brent Latch.

The man who had the most impact on the game though was Hawks defender Lincoln Adams, who kept prolific South Bunbury forward Leigh Kohlmann to just one behind, as well as taking a number of strong intercept marks.

Despite kicking against a strong breeze, Augusta-Margaret River had the better of the play, but could manage just two points for their efforts.

South Bunbury on the other hand had little trouble hitting the scoreboard when the play went their way, with ruckman Tom Harper kickstarting their scoring with a long-range goal.

The dominance of Liam McKenna in the middle had South Bunbury on top and he soon added a goal.

When Craig Hutcheson got on the end of a nice passage of play from McKenna and former skipper Giacci, the Tigers were well in front. But the Hawks came out after the first break and kicked four quick goals to nab the lead.

Ben Gerrans was causing all sorts of problems for the Tigers’ defence, who spent much of the day trying to spoil Jack Hick in the marking contests.

Hawks captain Mitch Lynn and fellow midfielder Brett Dobson were starting to reap the rewards of Harry Morgan’s tapwork and domination in the ruck.

The Tigers got a consolation goal from Jack Deschamp late in the quarter, but a late major from Tom McDonald restored the Hawks’ lead. The quarter started poorly for the Tigers when Josh Padlie was stretchered from the ground after his head collided with the knee of a Hawks defender.

Backed by the breeze, South Bunbury had plenty of opportunities to score, but it took a 50m penalty to Guy Piggott for them to get one through the big sticks.

Piggott kicked his second after a handy handball from Kohlmann, who got the ball out the back of pack just metres in front of goal.

Dobson booted the only goal of a tense final term to give the Hawks the upset victory.

Scoreboard

Aug-Marg River 0.2 5.5 5.9 6.11 47 def South Bunbury 3.2 4.3 6.5 6.6 42

GOALS: Aug-Marg River - B. Gerrans, B. Dobson 2, T. McDonald, J. Hick. South Bunbury - G. Piggott 2, L. McKenna, C. Hutcheson, J. Deschamp, T. Harper.

BEST: Aug-Marg River - L. Adams, M. Lynn, B. Dobson, H. Morgan, B. Gerrans, J. Rodgers. South Bunbury - B. Latch, L. McKenna, M. Giacci, C. Hutcheson, G. Piggott, J. Crossman.