At 2.15pm on Saturday afternoon all that separated Strathfieldsaye and Eaglehawk in 2018 was 0.29 per cent.
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By 4.50pm, there was no doubt as to who is the top dog in the BFNL.
While the Storm’s 34-point win over the Borough was only one game in a long season, the manner in which the home side put the Hawks to the sword showed the reigning premier is clearly the team to beat in 2018.
The Storm won 14.8 (92) to 8.10 (58) to move a game clear in the race for the minor premiership.
“The top two teams on the ladder playing each other… it was a finals feeling out there early and the players were going in mighty hard,’’ Storm coach Troy Coates said.
“To our boys’ credit they responded to that and played really well.
“Eaglehawk is a quality side, so we’re very happy to get the win.”
The first half was arguably the most intense, contested hour of footy in the BFNL this season.
Goals were hard to come by as both teams poured the pressure on around the ball.
The only time the Hawks hit the front for the day was midway through the second quarter.
Like all good teams, the Storm went up a gear when challenged.
A brilliant soccer goal from Shaun Dwyer followed by a Bryce Curnow major gave the Storm a nine-point break at half-time.
The two late goals in the second quarter were a sign of things to come.
By midway through the third quarter the Storm added another five goals to make it seven unanswered goals and a match-high 37-point lead.
To the Hawks’ credit they didn’t put the cue in the rack.
Gedd Hommelhoff and coach Josh Bowe kicked the final two goals of the third quarter to cut the margin to four goals at three quarter-time.
Sean Williams kicked the opening goal of the final quarter to give the Hawks a sniff, but that was quickly quashed by Storm key forwards Hugh Robertson and Bryce Curnow.
They combined to kick the next three goals to ensure Eaglehawk’s run of outs at Tannery Lane would enter an eighth year.
“We didn’t want to let Eaglehawk get their tails up because we know they’re a confidence side,’’ Coates said.
“We wanted to make sure that if they did kick a couple of goals in a row that we worked hard to get the momentum back.
“Last week we were poor structurally and we worked on that though the week and I thought we played really good team footy.
“Everyone played their role, stuck to the structures and it paid off.”
With star forward Lachlan Sharp sidelined there were question marks about the Storm’s ability to kick enough goals against quality opposition.
That doubt can be put to bed.
Robertson and Curnow kicked eight goals between them and were a handful for the Borough defence.
At the other end of the ground, Eaglehawk’s key forwards had no impact on the game.
Matt Gretgrix didn’t have a shot for goal, Shaun Knott injured his hamstring in the third quarter and Brenton Conforti started forward but was switched to the backline by quarter time to play on Robertson.
The forward line structure and the Hawks’ use of the ball forward of centre will be high on the agenda for Bowe and his coaching staff this week.
The positive for the Hawks is they have about 10 weeks to work on their game before they face the Storm again in September.