It was a tight contest throughout as expected, but the Hawks broke the shackles with a five-goal burst in the last quarter against a tiring Saints line up, eventually going on to claim a 14.8 (92) to 7.6 (48) win.

Roy Assan was again prominent in the midfield, while Kayle Kossack’s class wherever he lined up was evident.

However, it was the presence of Sean Patrick at full forward that proved the difference.

Patrick made the most of every opportunity, sometimes snapping from truly near-impossible angles and at other times completely out-positioning his opponent to mark on his way to a nine-goal haul for the afternoon.

It was however, yet another demonstration of how the entire Big River side has improved in its second year in the competition as there were 22 contributors across the park, with the likes of Jessiha Clyden in defence and Terrence Binsaad lifting with the team when required.

The Hawks opened the scoring with back-to-back goals before the Saints settled and grabbed one back however it was the travelling side that had its nose in front at the break, to the tune of eight points.

The second quarter turned into an arm wrestle as St Mary’s cranked up the heat but the likes of Clyden, Jesse Bettison and Boaz Thomson stepped up to ensure the Hawks went into the main break with a 20-point lead.

Kicking into the strengthening breeze in the third term, Big River gave St Mary’s a sniff with a couple of costly turnovers, however when it appeared as if the reigning premiers might get a run on, the Hawks found an avenue to goal through Kossack, Binsaad and Jake Farrell and the lead was 17 points at the final change.

The Saints had fired their last shot by early in the last though and, with Patrick seemingly having the ball on a string and Assan dominating across half-forward, Big River retained top spot on the ladder and sent a message out to the competition in securing another important win.

Result

ST MARYS 7.6-48

defeated by

BIG RIVER HAWKS 14.8-92