Eaglehawk starts 2023 campaign with gutsy win over South Bendigo

The Bloods' first game at their new-look home venue attracted a big crowd, but the wet weather and the Hawks played the role of villains.

In conditions you'd expect in mid-July rather than mid-April, the Borough won 8.10 (58) to 6.12 (48).

"We'll bank the four points and we move on to next week,'' Eaglehawk coach Travis Matheson said.

"It was a slog and not a game you can take too much out of, but it was nice to win round one.

"Lose round one and it's a game you have to chase later in the year.

"South will win plenty of games, so to take one against them is something we can be happy about."

A 10-minute burst in the second quarter proved decisive for the Hawks.

After South had the better of the opening quarter, the Hawks added three quick goals at the start of the second term to take control of the game.

While the Bloods worked their way back into the contest late in the second term and across the third quarter, it always appeared the Hawks had the answers.

The margin was only five points at three quarter-time and the game would be decided by which team made the most of their opportunities in the final term.

It was the Hawks' Lewin Davis who sealed the deal for the visitors when he snapped the only goal of the final term at the 15-minute mark.

As hard as the Bloods tried, the Borough defence held sway.

Clayton Holmes, Dylan Hanley and Charlie Langford were outstanding in the backline for the Hawks.

Hanley and Langford played the lockdown defensive roles which freed Holmes up to do plenty of damage as a roaming third defender.

After an injury-interrupted previous two seasons, Langford looks set to be a key player in the Hawks' premiership push.

"He can play. He's a name that some opposition don't know too much about because he's had such a rough run with injuries,'' Matheson said of Langford.

"He played wing last year after coming back from an interrupted pre-season. We sat him on the wing to help ease him back into it.

"He's a good defender. I thought his practice games were really solid and I thought he was really good today.

"It's great to see him back playing good footy because he's done a lot of hard work to get himself right again."

While many pundits expected the Bloods to slide down the ladder in 2023, Saturday's performance proved they'll push for a second-straight finals berth.

New ruckman Macgregor Cameron showed why the Bloods were so keen to gain his services, while the return of hard-running Oscar White and Brody Haddow adds extra strings to the Bloods' midfield bow.

"We were proud of the way we fought on, it was just that 10 minutes or so in the second quarter that probably hurt us,'' South Bendigo coach Horbury said.

"The disappointing part was that they wanted it more than us in that second quarter.

"We've spoken about it a bit in the past few years that we can't afford to have those lapses, particularly against quality sides.

"Hopefully, we can get that out of our game."

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