Hawkins: Bench the difference

by Shaun Moran 0

Box Hill coach Jeff Hawkins was visibly delighted with his side’s outstanding performance in their 2-0 win away to Bundoora United at Hillsview Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

The long-standing coach was mindful of the difficulty of the task pre game, but was equally relieved with the result.

“It’s always good to get three points in Bundoora. They’re a very good team and they work very hard and they try and play football which is good ,” he explained.

“Conditions here didn’t favour both teams, it’s not easy to play good football when there’s such a high wind. But look, we’re happy, we’ve come away with a clean sheet, and two goals.”

When quizzed as to where he thought the game was won and lost, he made mention of his team’s resolute defending and the depth of his squad.

“They had a couple of chances early on and they put a lot of pressure on us with a few corners, especially in the first half when they had the wind. And we held solid. So really that first half was what set us up as we defended well,” he said.

“We’ve got strength all across the group where can put fresh girls on and still run hard. I think in fairness to them they had a few girls missing today so our bench was a bit stronger than theirs and that’s where you win it.”

It was an important win for the defending champions, who had only picked up five points out of a possible nine in their preceding three matches.

They will be hoping to back up their impressive display, when they host Sandringham at Wembley Park on Friday evening.