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READ MORE - Dragons cull Roos in 102-point demolition
EAGLEHAWK produced a smothering defensive effort for the second week in a row as it kept Maryborough scoreless in the second half of its 113-point win at Princes Park on Saturday.
The Hawks steamrolled the Magpies 20.16 (136) to 3.5 (23) to give their percentage another early-season boost.
Having thrashed Castlemaine 36.23 (239) to 1.5 (11) the previous week, the Hawks have kicked 56 goals to just four in their past two games and now have a monster percentage of 380.3.
The Hawks were well in command of the game at half-time leading by 49 points, 11.6 to 3.5, before kicking 9.10 to 0.0 after the main break as they handed the disappointing Magpies their third heavy loss from their first four games.
"Early in the game Maryborough really took it up to us. It was physical and a bit of a scrap," Eaglehawk coach Travis Matheson said.
"At quarter-time we spoke about wanting to clean the game up with our use of the footy. We were making some errors that was giving them another stoppage or a scrap, which played into their hands a bit.
"From quarter-time onwards we cleaned our ball-use up a lot and it paid off."
New Eaglehawk forward Jack Dye outscored Maryborough off his own boot, kicking four goals.
Dye was among six multiple goalkickers for the Hawks, which also included Darcy Richards (three), Riley Saunders (three), Lewin Davis (three), Shaun Knott (two) and Sam Harper (two).
Koby Hommelhoff, Billy Evans and Noah Wheeler set the tone for the Hawks in the midfield, Dylan Hanley in his first game of the season was a standout in defence and ruckman Jack Lawton provided plenty around the ground.
The Hawks got through the game unscathed and will welcome back superstar Brodie Filo for his first game of the season against Kyneton next week, while Kobe Lloyd is also expected to come back in to the side.
On a tough day for the Magpies they were best served by Jayden Hooper (one goal), Harrison Monk and their premier on-baller Bailey Edwards (one goal).
It gets no easier for the Magpies next Saturday when they host Golden Square.
TIGERS FORCED TO WITHSTAND CHALLENGE FROM PLUCKY 'MAINE
KYNETON was forced to dig deep to overcome a plucky Castlemaine in their Bendigo league match at Camp Reserve on Saturday.
While the wayward Tigers kicked away to win by 30 points - 13.24 (102) to 11.6 (72) - the Magpies' hopes of avoiding a 39th-consecutive defeat were well and truly alive when they hit the front in time-on of the third quarter.
Having been jumped by the Tigers, who at one stage led 39-1 early in the second quarter, the Magpies dug in and not only clawed their way back into the contest, but when Hadley Bassett goaled at the 23-minute mark of the third quarter the home side led 58-53 and had the momentum.
However, four late goals from the Tigers through Bailey McGee, Chris Barry, Guy Dickson and Josh Smiley gave the ascendancy back to Kyneton as it went into three quarter-time 21 points up, before adding three goals to two in the final term.
The victory squared Kyneton's ledger at 2-2, with the best for the Tigers including McGee (two goals), ruckman James Orr and star midfielder Rhys Magin, while forward Dickson finished with three goals.
While it was an opportunity missed for the Magpies to win their first game since round one of 2018, it was a spirited and encouraging response from the previous week's 228-point hiding from Eaglehawk.
"We stuck to our structures a lot better today. Our focus today was to trust in each other and believe that we can play at this level," Castlemaine coach Don Moran said.
"We had a lot more composure with the ball today. Something I've been speaking a lot to the boys about is being battle-calm and I thought we were a lot more today, which is encouraging."
Liam Wilkinson provided a good target at centre half-forward and kicked three goals to be the best player for the Magpies.
Full-back David Stephens and utility John Watson (two goals, both in the second quarter) also featured among the best players for the Magpies.
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