A THIRD-term purple patch from Box Hill’s Amos Frank left Essendon stunned as the Hawks held on to win by 11 points in VFL on Saturday.
A huge crowd filled Windy Hill for Essendon’s VFL home-opener, but a promising first half was overturned in the third term as Box Hill won 12.12.84 to 10.13.73.
Essendon threatened a final-quarter comeback but could get no closer than four points as Box Hill clung on for victory.
Essendon had its season squared with one win and one loss, while Box Hill joined the Bombers on the same win-loss record with its first win.
The teams had swapped the lead during the third quarter, but it was the Frank show in time-on as he played a pivotal role in setting up the Hawks’ match-winning lead.
The small forward snapped a tricky chance from the pocket and followed it up with another snap from the corridor a minute later to make Box Hill’s lead 11 points.
He then pressured an Essendon clearance to force a mis-kick straight to Tom Gordon, who capitalised by converting a 40m set shot.
Straight from the centre restart, Luke Andrews hit Gordon on the chest, and his 35m set shot put Box Hill up by 24.
It could have been worse for Essendon had time not expired as Brandon Wood was running in to an open goal. Box Hill consolidated its third-quarter burst early in the final term when Shane Savage marked in the forward pocket and backed his pace to break Tayte Pears’ tackle and run to the goalsquare, putting the Hawks up by 29.
It was then Essendon’s turn to chip away at the deficit, and when a quick-fire double to Dell’Olio (15 minutes) and Hal Hunter (16 minutes) got the gap back to 10 points the home crowd found its voice.
The margin was back to four points when Josh Toy goaled on the turn at the 20-minute mark of the last quarter and Essendon looked like pulling off a great escape.
But a push-in-the-back free kick for Gordon a the top of the goal square two minutes later was the steadier for Box Hill, re-establishing a 10-point margin. Box Hill held on in the last seven minutes with Essendon unable to kick another goal.
Essendon coach Hayden Skipworth and his assistants tried everything to stop Box Hill’s dominant end to the third term.
“It was hard to come back from that,” Skipworth said. “We tried numerous things but were getting beaten around all stoppages. They were just playing excellent footy and we couldn’t stop their run.”
VFL SCORES
Essendon 10.13 (73) lt Box Hill Hawks 12.12 (84)
Goals – Essendon: Dell’Olio 3, Hams 2, Toy, Duscher, Hunter, Ashby, Gumbleton. Box Hill: Gordon 4, Frank, Spangher, Savage 2, Langford, Wood
Best – Essendon: Pears, Daniher, Gumbleton, Sikora, Gleeson, O’Brien. Box Hill: Litherland, Cheney, Lake, Osborne, Savage, Mirra.
THIS WEEKEND: Essendon v Casey Scorpions, Windy Hill, 1pm Saturday
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