By Will Lawrence
After a patchy start to the 2021 season, and under pressure to keep their season alive, the Boronia Hawks are growing in confidence after a notable win over second on the ladder The Basin at the weekend.
In tight low scoring affair through four quarters Boronia defeated The Basin 6.12 (48) to 4.13 (37) in a win which keeps them at fifth on the ladder with five win and five losses and just one win outside the Division Two top four.
Star recruit Taylor Leggate starred with two goals, in what’s been a stop start debut year at Tormore Reserve for the ex-Wantirna South man, whilst former skipper Lachlan McKernan was at his bullocking best.
Boronia have been a force in the EFNL in past years, finishing 1st in 2019, before bowing out in the preliminary final to eventual premier Mitcham, building on their premiership in 2018.
They hope to push their way up the ladder week by week in the back half of this season.
Boronia Head Coach Matt Clark says his side’s win over The Basin is a reward for effort at training during past weeks and is a positive result that has been coming for a while despite losses in previous weeks.
“The biggest thing we took out of the weekend was we just needed to find a win to get some result for the work we have been putting in,” Clark said.
“So that gives you confidence to go against a good side, second on the ladder and in good form was a big moment for us and hopefully we’re going to be able to build from and get confidence from.”
Keeping The Basin goalless in the first quarter and to just four across the game saw Boronia return to their miserly best, with this defensive stability setting the tone for Boronia to play the game on their terms.
Having started some games slowly this year, the voice and organisation shown from the first bounce by the Hawks would undoubtedly be something the side will hope to continue in coming weeks.
The defensively organised display that was missing in previous weeks was one of the biggest positives from the win and showed a brand of football the side can be proud of Clark said.
“We were able to defend really well, and I think for moments over the last six weeks we have defended really poorly.”
“It’s because we weren’t structured up the way we usually do and it was largely due to communication, so we just stripped it back to the bare minimum and said this is what is expected from each other”.
Looking to next week’s game, Boronia face a struggling Templestowe side who they defeated by 60 points in round six.
However, Clark is not taking the game lightly noting how in round six the game wasn’t exactly comfortable, as well as the Dockers recent upturn in form.
His side were kept scoreless in the first quarter and were down by thirteen points at half-time, showcasing the Dockers ability to take it up to the best sides, despite registering just one win in 2021 thus far.
“We want to play our ground better, because we’ve lost four home games this year this year,”
“So, we spoke about it after the game that we need to start owning our home which we’ve been good at for a long time,”
“We are really focussed, and we know it’s going to be tough, they’re well organised, so we need to be on from the start and make sure we have pressure around the footy”.