The Augusta Margaret River Hawks held off the fast-finishing Harvey Bulls to claim a thrilling one point victory at the Harvey Recreation Ground on Saturday night.
The Hawks rebounded from their own single point defeat last week to claim their second win of the season with an 11.8 (74) to 10.13 (73) scoreline.
The match started out very competitively in the first quarter, with both midfields moving the ball quickly into the forward line, only for the defenders to force a turnover and send it back the other way.
After several goalless minutes to start the game, Joshua Krispyn gave Harvey the early lead with game's first goal before Augusta Margaret River's Beau Morgan launched a long goal just a couple of minutes later.
Ryan Nye then pushed Harvey back out in front with his first goal of the day before the Hawks pegged them back once again, this time courtesy of a snapped goal from Jacob Payne after a contentious unpaid mark to Harvey's Reece Blechynden in defence.
Two more goals to Harvey's Jonathon Ietto and Krispyn were able to break the deadlock and give the Bulls a 15 point lead at the first break.
Harvey started the second quarter the same way they finished the first and looked like had control of the game, with both Nye and Ietto kicking their second goals in the first half of the quarter.
However the tide turned after Ietto's goal and the Hawks showed some classy ball movement as they took control of the second half of the quarter.
Jacob Payne kicked his second before Matt Jukes kicked his first goal late in the quarter to keep the Hawks within touching distance at half time, trailing the Bulls by just nine points.
During the long break, Jamieson told his players to take the game on and the Hawks took the message to heart as they came with renewed energy in the second half.
The Hawks’ ball movement was first class as they piled on the first four goals of the third, including two more to Jukes, as they claimed the lead for the first time all day.
The Bulls had chances late in the term to peg back the Hawks’ lead but a bout of inaccurate kicking saw Harvey waste their chances, until Nye kicked his third goal in the dying minutes to bring the margin back to eight points.
With the game on the line, the Bulls kicked it up a gear in the final quarter.
An early goal to Augusta Margaret River's Beau Morgan pushed the margin out to more than two goals, but the Bulls fought hard to win the game.
Harvey midfielder Brendon Jones was influential with his pinpoint kicking and the Bulls clawed their way back into the contest with goals to Ryan McKinlay and Nye, which brought the margin back to a solitary point.
Jukes had the chance to give the Hawks some space but could only muster a behind, which allowed Harvey to take the lead just minutes later when Nye kicked his fifth goal of the night.
The Hawks, spurred on by the possibility of a second close loss in a row, kept Harvey from adding to the score and pushed the ball forward, resulting in a free kick to Jack Hick.
Hick went back and didn't let the pressure get to him as he slotted the go-ahead goal from a tight angle.
It was nervous few minutes after Hick's goal for the Hawks as Harvey continued to put on the pressure and McKinlay took a strong pack mark directly in front of goal.
However he shanked the kick and the Hawks maintained their one point lead as the final siren sounded.
Jamieson said he was happy with the way the Hawks turned the game around after half time.
“It was a little bit frustrating in the first half, we were a little bit off,” he said.
“Our concentration was not right [like] what we wanted to do in the pre-game.
“It took us a while to address that but in the third quarter we got a good response so I was really happy the boys got on top and willed it out in the end.”
Jamieson said the Hawks would focus on their defensive set-up in the coming weeks.
“I was happy with the way we hung in there and fought it out when the ball hit the ground, but I think we have just got to be a little smarter with our defensive transition,” he said.
“We tend to zone off a bit when we should be putting pressure on the ball carrier and that’s something we addressed post-game.”
Jamieson also said the club was looking forward to the bye this week with several players carrying minor injuries.
“We had a few guys carry a few niggles into the game and that’s why we’re a little light on throughout the club. I think the reserves only played with 19 players and we had a few too,” he said.
“We’ll just get the boys right with the week off and really look forward to a big home game against Bunbury.”
