The Box Hill Hawks kept their finals hopes alive with an emphatic 57 point victory over last year’s grand finalists the Northern Bullants, 19.12.126 to 9.6.10.9.69.

The Hawks were consistently better than the Bullants in every quarter, getting on top of the opposition early with their willingness to work hard and gain possession of the ball around the stoppages.

In a handful of interesting match-ups, a standout saw Hawthorn-listed Jordan Lisle returned for Box Hill and was given the task of playing full-back on Setanta O’hAilpin.

Many of Box Hill’s forward attacks were made off the half-back line which saw the Hawks switch the ball to the open side and use the space for their players to run in the first quarter, with the Hawks holding strong and heading into half time with a 22 point lead.

Boumann set up plenty of attacking play with his dashing run from the back-line while Sierakowski and Mirra were also effective coming out of the back-line.

In a sign of positivity and versatility, Lisle was moved from the back-line playing on O’hAilpin into the forward-line for the second half of the match and finished with two  goals.

The last quarter saw two quick goals to Wanganeen and Ladson to put the game beyond doubt.

Once the Bullants had lost their intensity the Hawks kept theirs, continually working until the final siren, turning a 36 point three-quarter-time lead into a 57 point victory.

In a victory Box Hill desperately needed, the Hawks now sit in eighth place on the ladder and have the bye next weekend.

Box Hill: 6.3/10.3/15.6/19.12.126
Northern Bullants: 3.3/6.5/9.6.10.9.69

Goal kickers: Wanganeen 4, Ladson 2, Pattison 2, Lisle 2, Gilchrist 2, Andrews, Neil, Milne, Jackson, Gibson, Young, Schneider

Best players: Pattison, Jackson, Boumann,  Gibson, Mirra, Milne