By Marcus Uhe
Rowville has heaped pain on a battling Doncaster outfit by inflicting the heaviest defeat of the Eastern Football Netball League Premier Division season to date.
Keen to make amends after having its five-match winning streak was shattered at the hands of Vermont last week, the Hawks outscored the lowly Sharks 67-5 in the second quarter on the way to a 24.23 167 to 2.8 20 victory.
With 13 individual goalkickers, the fun was spread far and wide across the brown and gold, with Mitchell and Tyson Sruk even getting in on the action for their first goals of the season.
Rowville kicked the first four of the contest, including two to veteran Maverick Taylor, before the Sharks finally broke through after the quarter time siren.
They would not score again until the 16th minute of the last term, a 73-minute scoring drought in which the Hawks slammed on 18 of their own.
A seven goal burst in just 18 minutes of football to open the second period was the decisive period of the game, allowing Rowville to hit the rooms at half time 75 points ahead.
The Hawks were electric with the ball in open space, moving it with rapid speed with precision and with a plethora of options available across Seebeck Oval.
Jake Arundell’s hot form continued, kicking another four and stretching his run of consecutive goalscoring games to eight.
It was a return to prominence for Lachlan Wynd, too, kicking five to maintain his place atop the leading goalscorers table with 41 majors.
Taylor (three), Matt Davey and Lachlan McDonald (two each) were the other multiple goalkickers while eight Hawks kicked singles.
Cooper MacDonald made a welcome return in his first game since round nine, and Matthew Evans used his mobility against a taller opponent in the ruck, in the absence of the injured Nik Schoenmakers.
Not only was it the highest margin of victory in 2023 across Premier Division, but Rowville’s 167 was the second-highest team score, and Doncaster’s 20 the lowest team score for the year so far.
The second lowest belongs to Blackburn, who were held to just 21 points by Noble Park on Saturday.
So tight was the Bulls’ defence, they did not allow a goal until seven minutes into the third term.
But despite the stranglehold on the Blackburn forwards, the Bulls had only kicked three by that stage in the game, and led by just nine points when the Panthers finally broke through.
It appeared to light a fuse under the reigning champions, who kicked three in a four minute period shortly after.
Ben Marson kicked two in 60 seconds before first gamer Tom Bower received the customary mobbing and rub on the head after he nailed a goal on his senior debut.
A major to Nathan Noblett to beat the three-quarter-time siren extended the margin to 34, the largest of the afternoon to date, and ultimately proved a bridge too far for the visiting Panthers.
Ryan Morrison and Jackson Sketcher were among the bests for the Bulls, while two goals to Liam Scott takes his tally to 24, having scored in every contest he’s played in since round one.
Rowville’s clash with Doncaster East and Noble Park’s with East Ringwood shape as eight-point games in round 13, with all four sides right in the mix for finals action.
