Down by 1 point in the 31st minute, Sam Iles after kicking two seconds before the siren sounded kicked truly as an open goal square lied await with the ball sailing through securing the Hawks ninth victory.
Elated scenes followed the victory with the Hawks in great spirits while Coburg contemplated possibly what could have been with their finals hopes dashed by a remarkable Box Hill win.
Coburg looked likely to run away with the victory through two final term goals by Troy Simmonds, but Box Hill’s composure in the final minutes payed dividends.
Down and out the win never seemed out of sight for the Hawks who clawed back the margin through hard work and persistence.
Box Hill coach Brendon Bolton felt Box Hill showed great spirit keeping its top four hopes alive.
"When Robbie Campbell marked the ball in the back line, I said this is our last ditch effort here. If he can switch it to the other side, we’re on," Bolton said. "We were really happy with the win. When it’s a tight contest, we seem to work hard as a group with a fight-to-the-death mentality, which is pleasing."
With the return of Matthew Richardson to the football field after a long layoff after rupturing his hamstring against Sydney in Round 6 the highly anticipated match had all fans a buzz.
Although, Richardson suffered a minor setback in his bid to return to AFL level after feeling soreness in his hamstring aborting his on-field comeback mid-way through the first quarter.
In pretty good conditions at ABD Group Stadium apart from the light showers which trickled throughout the day, the Hawks started slowly unable to move the ball inside fifty while Coburg cleared the Hawks defences well moving to a 16 point lead at quarter time.
Wasteful in front of goal, Coburg with nine scoring shots should have been in front by a greater margin.
Cutting the margin, Box Hill worked their way back kicking 5.7 to Coburg’s 1.2 to lead by 13 points at half-time. Reversing Coburg’s first-term Box Hill’s inaccuracy allowed Coburg to stay in the game.
Pegging back, a goal to Coburg’s Nick Liddle stemmed the margin as Box Hill still remained in-front with a slight seven point advantage.
Three goals in succession moved Coburg slowly but surely to recover taking back the lead. As Coburg ran with momentum, Cameron Pedersen kicking two third term goals kept Box Hill in the game.
Enticing football in the forth set about with two quick goals to Troy Simmonds breaking open an 8 point Coburg lead. Height a key advantage, Simmonds close to goal set shots were answered with a goal to Robert Campbell at the other end.
Controversially, Coburg were gifted a goal with Andrew Horne placing through his first through a fifty meter penalty guiding a set-shot closer to goal which could have been the end for the Hawks.
Joel Bowden followed suit with another until Ben Smithwick lifted the Hawks spirits moving the margin back to two points.
As goals flew by, a goal to Ben Clifton looked to close the door for Box Hill.
But Sam Iles proved the saviour drilling a goal from 40 meters out seconds before the siren seeing the ball sail through in delight.
Iles was pleased the running goal hit the target.
"I was looking for a hit-up option first and then there was nothing coming and I knew we were down so I thought I’d have a shot at goal," Iles said. "I didn’t think there was much of a chance and in the end it fell our way."
Long talk and deliberation followed as the umpires decided on the final result which would go on the Hawks terms with the possibility of the ball being kicked after the siren or touched by Coburg’s defence but both were stamped out.
Match winner Sam Iles 31 disposals played as the Hawks best followed by all round performances by Travis Tuck 26, Shane Savage and Ed Curnow 24.
Co-Captains Lukas Markovic across defence and Steve Kenna through the mid-field played out excellent games.
Robert Campbell continued his push for senior selection with a fine performance in the ruck with 33 hitouts while Cameron Pedersen booted three goals.
Joel Bowden continuing his good form with Coburg had 38 disposals while Mark Coughlan, Andrew Raines and Graham Polak were the better players.
Either side could have ran away with the victory in an even match with Box Hill placing on the board their 2nd win against Coburg for the season.
Coburg again would be feeling the pain of another loss on the siren as was the case against Williamstown in Round 13 when Western Bulldog Jarrad Grant kicked the match winner from 45 out after the siren to win the game for the Seagulls by three points.
Box Hill remains in 6th position but stay on equal terms with both Casey Scorpions and Northern Bullants in 4th and 5th positions respectively with nine wins.
With Box Hill safe in 6th position for at least another week with Geelong a game behind, a win against Frankston this weekend would spur a possible top four position if all results go the Hawks way.
Box Hill Hawks: 1.2 / 6.9 / 9.13 / 14.16.100
Coburg Tigers: 3.6 / 4.8 / 9.9 / 14.11.95
Goals: C. Pedersen 3, S. Iles 2, S. Gibson 2, B. Smithwick, M. Bailey, L. Breust, A. Yze, J. Lisle, R. Campbell, T. Tuck
Best: S. Iles, R. Campbell, L. Markovic, S. Kenna, T. Tuck, S. Savage
