Augusta-Margaret River Hawks track piece of history in dominant SWFL win over Harvey Bulls

Augusta-Margaret River’s quest to achieve the first minor premiership in their 55-year history is set to continue after a dominant 19.13 (127) to 6.1 (37) victory over Harvey Bulls. In the second-last round of the SWFL’s 2021 home and away season, the Hawks hosted the Bulls at Gloucester Park on Saturday, where Cody Rodgers played his 150th league game and Cody Miller ran out for his 50th. Although the Bulls were the first to open up the scoreboard with an early behind and an eventual opening goal via Bradley Holmes, the Hawks fought back quickly to take the lead with goals from milestone men Rodgers and Miller. Despite the Bulls’ attempts to make a comeback, a third goal from Mitchell Payne saw the Hawks lead 3.3 (21) to 1.1 (7) at quarter time. The second quarter saw Holmes fight hard to achieve a second goal for the Bulls to give his team hope of a comeback. However, the Hawks were just as quick to respond with major scores from Kael Coleman and Zac Dronow. The Hawks began taking control of the match, shutting down the Bulls at every opportunity, leading to frustration within the Harvey camp. Despite a few missed opportunities, goals from Payne and Mitchell Gerrans saw the Hawks keep the Bulls to just one goal for the term. At half-time, the Hawks held strong to lead 7.5 (47) to 2.1 (13). Harvey’s pattern of getting the first major of each quarter continued in the third quarter with Jay Collard scoring early. However, the Hawks’ dominance reigned on with goals from the likes of Tab Hunter, Beau Morgan and Coleman. Despite a goal from Kane Ah Chee giving the Bulls some sort of hope, their efforts proved futile as the Hawks continued dominating to lead by 55 points at the final change and pulled away to win by 90 points.