Young Hawks hammered

Liam Kinsella’s goal with eight seconds left in the game was the exclamation point in a dominant bounce-back win by the Collie Eagles over Augusta-Margaret River.

The Eagles held the Hawks goalless in their 15.12 (102) to 0.8 (8) victory on Saturday.

The opening term was sluggish for both sides, with the only major coming from the Eagles, who took a six-point lead into the second term.

The second quarter saw the gap increase with a four-goal haul from the Eagles in what remained a relatively low-scoring affair.

Augusta-Margaret River missed an opportunity to log their first goal after they whiffed on an attempted soccer of a loose ball right in front of the goal in the dying seconds of the half.

The third quarter saw the rain let up, but the Hawks remained unable to either score or prevent the Eagles from scoring.

Collie opened up the term with two goals apiece from Tony Mirabella and Matt Michael before Augusta-Margaret River scored their first point of the half.

After a stint in the forward line which netted him a goal, Shannon Cox spent the entire second half in the back-line and was instrumental in preventing the Hawks from kicking a major.

Cox gobbled up seemingly every delivery into the Hawks’ forward 50 and showed impressive agility to carry the ball to safety until a safe option presented itself.

The Eagles struggled to convert after their hot start to the quarter and a melee briefly broke out between the sides, with a frustrated Brodie Bramich for Augusta-Margaret River in the thick of the action.

Collie coach Brett Earl had to be happy with his team‘s relentless defensive pressure, which continued in the fourth quarter.

The final period saw Mirabella add another two goals to his haul, bringing his total up to five, while Michael scored his third for the game and livewire Christopher Cross scored his first.

Cross was yellow carded in the final term but had done enough to be awarded best on ground after the game ended.

Scoreboard

Collie Eagles 1.2 5.5 10.9 15.12 102 def Augusta-Marg River 0.2 0.5 0.7 0.8 8

Goals:

COLLIE - T. Mirabella 5, M. Michael 3, T. Michael, A. Bignall, S. Cox, W. Cleggett, A. Tweedie, C.Cross, L. Kinsella.

Best:

COLLIE - C. Griggs, S. Cox, C. Cross, T. Mirabella, M. Blackford, A. Bignall.

AMR - R. Devitt, B. Bramich, B. Gerrans, H. Shepheard, J. Hick, A. Samelko.