Woodend-Hesket showed plenty of resolve to get the job done against the Gisborne Giants to make it two on the trot in the Riddell District Football League.
In what has been a tough season for the Hawks, they’ve been able to double their win total in the past two weeks.
Coach Alastair Rae said it was nice to get some reward for effort the last couple of weeks.
“Last weekend was particularly pleasing,” he said. “Yesterday [Saturday] was more of a relieving win where we played OK for the whole day.”
Rae said the Giants had shown a lot of improvement from the first time they played them and really tested them at Gilbert Gordon Reserve.
The Hawks led early and were able to hold onto the lead throughout the match, winning 17.11 (113)-14.7 (91).
“They’ve grown a little bit,” Rae said. “They were really competitive and it was not easy.
“We started well before we got a couple of injuries in the third quarter which had an impact.”
Rae said Jack Binns and Alex Gray were the two players that went off injured, with Gray taken straight to hospital to get stitches in his hand after splitting his webbing.
Ryley Ferguson kicked five goals in a best on ground performance for the Hawks. Jack Duggan and Dean Bramley were other standouts for the Hawks.
Brad Mangan and Matt Quigley were again the standouts for the Giants.
Another positive to come out of the match for the Hawks was the senior debut of Harry White.
White, who took a strong mark and kicked a goal in the win, is the eighth under-17 player the Hawks have debuted in the senior side this season.
“We thought we might play five or six,” Rae said. “We didn’t think we would play this many.
“It’s partly because we don’t have the depth in the reserves, but we’ve got some good young guys coming through.”
The Hawks sit in eighth spot with four rounds remaining. They are three games outside the top six.
Rae said they wanted to finish strongly and start building for next season.
“We have four games left including playing Diggers Rest and Riddell,” he said. “We also play Lancefield and Romsey and we think we can win those two games.
“It’s about retention now for next season to build on the young group.”
In other results, Diggers Rest further cemented its spot on top after beating Riddell in the top of the table clash, 15.9 (99)-11.11 (77).
Romsey got an important win against Melton South, 10.9 (69)-7.13 (55), while Macedon upset Kyneton, 15.3 (93)-12.6 (78).
Wallan beat Lancefield in the other match, 22.20 (152)-9.4 (58).
