Tara Murray
Woodend-Hesket’s finals hopes rest in its own hands in the Riddell District Football League.
The Hawks moved into the top five on Saturday after hard fought win against Melton Centrals. The Hawks sit just two points ahead of Macedon with two rounds remaining.
Hawks coach Josh Pound said they were just focusing on this week against Wallan.
“It’s good to be somewhat in control of our own destiny,” he said. “We would have liked to have had a few more wins on the board.”
On Saturday, the Hawks beat the Melton Centrals in a low scoring affair.
Neither team was able to heavily impact the scoreboard all day, with the Hawks leading from start to finish to win 6.9 (45)-3.6 (24).
The Hawks scored three goals to one in the second half, which proved to be the difference.
It was all single goal kickers for the Hawks, with Frank Fazzolari, James Hicks and Miles Miranda named their best.
Pound said it was never going to be a high scoring game.
“It wasn’t good for the spectators to watch,” he said. “There was a strong breeze to one side of the ground, we had to try and get the ball off there.
“We talk about the good teams winning ugly and that was something we needed to do. We needed to find a way to get a result.”
The win was the Hawks 34 points, with six wins and a draw.
They moved two points clear of Macedon, which suffered a big loss to Wallan on Saturday.
The Magpies, who have secured a top three spot, had it all their own way in the 23.11 (149)-4.1 (25) win with the Cats struggled for numbers in recent weeks.
Matthew Perri kicked nine goals in a best on ground performance for the Magpies.
The Cats have the bye this week, which will give them four important points in the run home.
They then face a win less Western Rams in the final round of the season.
The Hawks have a tougher run home and will need to be at their best if they’re to play finals for the first time in a number of years.
They play Wallan this weekend, before hosting Romsey in the final round of the season.
Pound said they would take plenty of confidence into the game against Wallan.
“We know that we won the last time we played them despite it being classed as a draw,” he said. “We beat them by a point, but weren’t able to get the score overturned.
“We have a lot of belief from the first time we played them and know that we can beat them. We’ll use that leverage to get and try and get up.”
Pound said while in the past they may have been happy with just missing finals, they would be disappointed this year if that was the case.”
Romsey locked in fourth spot with a big win against Lancefield.
The Redbacks controlled the game from start to finish, in the 16.22 (118)-5.1 (31) win.
Dean Walsh kicked four goals in the win for the Redbacks with Nathan Rayment being named their best.
For the Tigers, Joseph Slattery and Benjamin Bryant were named their best.
Riddell had the bye.
