Hawks fall away late in seesaw affair
Drouin’s senior team have fallen away late over the weekend, losing to Bairnsdale by 55 points.
The game was a seesawing affair for most of the first three quarters as the lead changed hands multiple times, before the Redlegs pulled away in a blistering final term to win 19.11 (125) to 10.10 (70).
The win, which was Bairnsdale’s first of the season, sees the Redlegs pull themselves off the bottom of the ladder at the expense of their opponents.
Drouin, which had a number of under 18 players in the senior side, dominated in patches but just couldn’t contain the bigger bodies of the Bairnsdale forward line.
Redlegs key forward Logan Austin kicked six as Bairnsdale were able to take mark after mark in their forward 50, exploiting the smaller backline of the young Hawks.
Earlier in the game this didn’t appear to be too much of a factor however, as after the Redlegs kicked the first two of the game Drouin struck back, using their pressure and ferocity to force Bairnsdale into multiple turnovers.
Tom Barr dominated the wings, using his brilliant leg speed to leave his opponents in the dust time after time.
Goals to Kye Quirk, Callum Tyler and Seth Calway gave the Hawks the lead going into quarter time, despite a late Bairnsdale goal.
The second term saw an improved effort from the Redlegs, who began spreading the ball to the far side of the ground to stretch the Drouin midfield in transition.
This tactic allowed Bairnsdale to move the ball from their backline to their forward line with ease on multiple occasions, and with Logan Austin and Ethan East in fine marking form it meant that they were starting to find the ascendancy.
Regardless, the Hawks refused to give in, finding multiple goals through scrappy, high pressure play in the forward line, forcing turnovers and pouncing when given the opportunity as they found themselves just one goal down going into half time.
The second half opened with what was undoubtedly the goal of the day as Drouin’s Clayton Kingi smothered an opposition kick at half forward, gathered the ball, ran to 50 metres and nailed the long bomb.
Drouin would soon find the lead again thanks to a goal from Jarrod Marshall, but it didn’t last as Bairnsdale continued to find it much easier to find marks in their forward line. The Redlegs kicked three late goals to give them a 14-point lead going into the final change of ends.
In the end Bairnsdale’s height would prove the point of difference, and as the young talent of the Hawks tired they were stretched beyond their limit. The Redlegs would pour on eight more goals in the final quarter to well and truly blow the margin out and claim their first win of the season in style.
As they have done for much of the past few weeks, Drouin had their periods where they clearly looked the better side but were just unable to play well enough for long enough.
Their lack of height in both the backline and the forward line was ultimately their downfall, as Bairnsdale were able to find cleaner avenues to goal.
Drouin now face a tough task next week as they come up against a Moe side that will be keen to atone for their first loss of the season.
Bairnsdale, meanwhile, will play host to Traralgon with a newfound confidence after claiming their first win.
Drouin’s best players on the day were Tom Barr, Aden Quirk, Jarrod Marshall, Josh Chiv, Zayne Atkins and Seth Calway.
Liam Giove, Logan Austin, Josh Wykes, Simon Deery, Byron Vickery and Brayden McCarrey were Bairnsdale’s better players.