Box Hill began the game brilliantly by kicking 7 goals to 1 in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Box Hill forwards Mitchell Thorp, Luke Bruest, Hayden Kiel, and Ben Smithwick were lively contributors whilst Willy was riddled with turnovers and a lack of accountability.
Williamstown steadied after the early onslaught and Cameron Lockwood, Wayde Skipper, Ben Jolley, Liam Picken and Sam Reid begun the revival. Box Hill had a very small forward line and after Brad Gotch rearranged his defence Williamstown begun to reduce the 31 point quarter time lead. Up forward Matthew Little was prominent and midfielders Guy O’Keefe, Xavier Gotch, Jarrod Harbrow and Ben Jolley begun to capitalise on the dominance of Wayde Skipper.
Williamstown trailed by 4 points at half time but in the second half powered away by kicking 13 goals to 6. Youngsters Luke Cartelli, Easton Wood, Malcolm Lynch and Jarrad Grant exerted an influence and seasoned players Scott Welsh, Brett Johnson, Ben Davies and David Stretton were more prominent.
Scott Meyer in his first game of the season was a bit rusty whilst Cameron Wight and Jarrad Boumann were solid contributors. Tim Callan after a promising start did not resume after half time as a precaution with a corkie. Jordan Roughead continued his development in the ruck and up forward whilst Box Hill showed that they will be a vastly improved side this season.
Williamstown 3.2 10.5 16.10 23.15 (153)
Box Hill 8.3 10.9 12.11 16.15 (111)
Goalkicker: Little 3, Picken 3, O’Keefe 3, Welsh 3, Skipper 2, Gotch 2, Reid 2, Harbrow 2, Johnson 1, Grant 1, Wight 1.
Reserves Wrap
Williamstown and Box Hill played an entertaining game in the Reserves with Jason Cloke playing his first game and young Bulldogs Rookie John Shaw, Liam Jones and Jamason Daniels very prominent. Other good players included Dylan Joyce, Matthew Cravino, Trent Lee, Tom Langlands and Josh Young.
Williamstown 3.3 5.5 8.7 13.10 (88)
Box Hill 3.3 7.5 11.8 14.8 (82)
Goalkickers: Stack 3, Joyce 2, Jones 2, Irwin-Hill 2, Cloke 1, Isbister 1, Lee 1, Sharp 1.
Next Saturday (4th April) Williamstown plays reigning Premiers North Ballarat in a practice match at the Whitten Oval.
Reserves: 11:10am Williamstown Vs North Ballarat
Seniors: 2:00pm Williamstown Vs North Ballarat
