Box Hill handed the Northern Blues a pre-season realitiy check on Friday afternoon, defeating the home side by 31 points at Ikon Park.
The Blues flew out of the blocks in an impressive first quarter showing, but were unable to maintain the pressure and tenacity at the contest for extended periods, falling 7 .8 (50) to 12. 9. (81)
Costly turnovers in the middle of the ground and an inability to punish the opposition for their territorial dominance was a factor in the opening term. Despite the Blues having the better of the contest, the game was all tied up at the first change.
Much like their AFL affiliate on Thursday night, the Blues’ desire to take the game on and attack was on full display in the opening quarter, with Blaine Johnson reaping full reward with two first-quarter goals.
However, the Hawks managed to wrestle the ascendancy in the second term and didn’t look back for the rest of the contest.
Whiley, Tutt impress in Northern Blues' practice match
In the second and third terms in particular, the Hawks monopolised possession all over the ground and were extremely effective when going forward.
The likes of Peter McEvoy, Julian Soccio and Sam Switkowski posed questions the Blues had no answer to, all finishing with multiple goals in the process.
Despite the Blues having more of the ball come the final siren, Box Hill’s across-the-ground efficiency proved decisive in their victory.
Mark Whiley impressed for the Blues in his first competitive match for 2015, finishing with 20 disposals to be one of the Blues’ best performers on the day.
Jason Tutt was also among his side’s better performers, finishing with an equal team-high 21 disposals and a goal, putting forward his claim for an AFL call-up.
The tall brigade of Matthew Watson, Levi Casboult and Jayden Foster were starved of opportunity up forward, finishing with a goal each in a tough day at the office for the Blues.
Speaking post-match, Dylan Buckley paid credit to Box Hill’s efforts going forward, while lamenting the lack of efficiency in Northern’s case.
“Among other things, it was a case of them making the most of their opportunities going forward, while we weren’t able to do that,” Buckley said.
Webster critiques senior Blues
“They’re a class outfit who have a lot of developing players that play their role, and we unfortunately didn’t have enough of those.”
While disappointed with the result, Buckley said that there were positives to take from the loss.
“I thought Mark Whiley was a positive to take from it. He’s a great character to have around the club and have in the team, and he was one of our better players out there,” Buckley said.
“At the end of the day it was a practice match. While we’re disappointed with the performance, it’s important we don’t sit back and let it dictate our season and how we go about it next week.”
The Northern Blues’ final pre-season hit-out will come as an AFL Round 2 curtain-raiser at the MCG next week, coming up against the AIS-AFL Under 18s squad on Saturday afternoon.
NORTHERN BLUES 3.3 4.5 5.7 7. 8. (50)
BOX HILL HAWKS 3.3 6.7 9.9 12. 9. (81)
GOALS
NORTHERN: Johnson 2, Casboult, Armfield, Foster, Tutt, Watson
BOX HILL: McEvoy 2, Jones 2, Soccio 2, Switkowski 2, Mirra, Monkhorst, Lawlor, Graham
