Augusta Margaret River have defeated Carey Park at Gloucester Park on Saturday afternoon, in the opening game of round five in the Dale Alcock Homes South West, South West Football League season.
The Hawks were soundly beaten by Busselton a week ago by 87 points, but on Saturday afternoon, the Hawks turned their fortunes around, defeating the Panthers by 15 points, after trailing at quarter time by 13 points.
The Panthers started well with Brian Hughes on fire up forward, with Carey Park dominated most of the opening term.
The Hawks bounced back in the second term kicking four goals to one to lead by two points at the main break.
Augusta Margaret River extended the margin in the third term with Kaspa Donovan, Jacob Oakes and Byron George kicking three goals in five minutes to open up the biggest lead of the match. With the margin at nineteen points, the Panthers needed to bounce back and they did, with Hughes kicking a good goal and with another soon after the margin was back to six points. Jed Spence kicked a late goal to give the Hawks some momentum going into the final term.
Byron George kicked the opening goal of the final term to give the Hawks some breathing space, and despite the Panthers best efforts with two goals mid term, Josh Fry steadied the ship to snuff out the Panthers challenge, going on to win by fifteen points.
Kieran Yakas and Jed Spence continued their great early season form, while Byron George kicked five goals for the second time this season. Brian Hughes also kicked five goals for the Panthers, with Zane Verhaaf, Hughes and Taj Beauclarke amongst the best players.
The win to the Hawks puts them into the top five, with a big match in round six against Harvey Brunswick Leschenault. Carey Park meanwhile have two wins on the season and will face Harvey Bulls at Kelly Park next Sunday.
SCOREBOARD
Aug Marg River 2.2.14 6.2.38 10.3.63 13.9.87
Carey Park 4.3.27 5.6.36 7.10.52 10.12.72
Goals: Augusta Margaret River – Byron George 5, Joshua Fry 3, Kaspa Donovan 1, Jacob Oakes 1, Jed Spence 1, Ben Watson 1, Matthew Zelesco 1. Carey Park – Brian Hughes 5, Taj Houlahan 2, Brady Lenaghan 2, Taj Beauclarke 1,
Best: Augusta Margaret River – Kieran Yakas, Jed Spence, Byron George, Jacob Oakes, Joshua Fry, Cody Rodgers. Carey Park – Zane Verhaaf, Brian Hughes, Taj Beauclarke, Jaxon Bell, Connor Gadecki, Jack DiLallo.
Ground: Gloucester Park
Umpires: Greg Rolfe, David Beilken
Crowd: 655
