Semi final weekend delivered in spades, with the Box Hill Hawks and Frankston advancing to preliminary finals in unforgettable fashion.

SECOND SEMI FINAL

A Bodie Ryan goal after the final siren capped an extraordinary turnaround from the Box Hill Hawks, who moved into the preliminary final with a three-point victory over the Brisbane Lions in one of the most incredible matches in recent history.

It was a result that seemed unlikely at three quarter time when the Hawks were staring down the barrel of a fourth-consecutive loss and a straight-sets exit from the finals for the first time after a scoreless third quarter saw them trail by 33 points.

Brisbane produced all eleven scoring shots in the third term but could only muster four majors to leave the door ajar for the home team at Box Hill City Oval.

Their advantage had all but evaporated by the eight-minute mark of the final term when Box Hill had kicked four unanswered goals to cut the deficit to seven points.

Back to back goals from Mitch Lewis and Ned Reeves put the Hawks back in front for the first time since late in the second term, and a comeback win looked inevitable when Reeves kicked another in the 29th minute to extend Box Hill’s lead to nine. 

However, the Lions weren’t done with and they struck back in lightning fashion with Henry Smith and Brandon Ryan booting goals in the space of two minutes to put the visitors back in the lead.

As time seemed all but lost, Box Hill’s Ryan stood tall to take a strong contested mark 20m out from goal before calmly slotting the set shot on the siren to secure one of the club’s greatest wins in its proud history.

The incredible second half came after a tightly contested opening half where no side established a lead greater than 16 points.

Box Hill reached that lead twice in the second quarter before the Lions kicked five of the last seven goals of the term kicking into the breeze to lead by two at half time.

Mitch Lewis did his hopes of an AFL promotion no harm by booting four majors, while Ryan’s match-winner made him one of four Hawks to kick two majors for the afternoon – a remarkable effort given he had previously kicked only two goals.

Henry Hustwaite was outstanding for Box Hill, finishing with 37 disposals, 11 clearances and 10 inside 50’. Cam Mackenzie was also influential with 31 touches and 10 clearances.

Brisbane had multiple standouts despite falling short in heartbreaking fashion, having lost at the preliminary final stage in each of the past three years.

Henry Smith booted a season-high four majors up forward while Darragh Joyce had 26 disposals to go along with a game-high nine intercept possessions and seven rebound 50s.

BOX HILL HAWKS   3.3   9.5   9.5        18.7 (115)
BRISBANE LIONS   3.7   9.7   13.14   16.16 (112)

BEST
Box Hill Hawks: Henry Hustwaite, Cam Mackenzie, Bailey Macdonald, Bodie Ryan, Trent Bianco, Mitch Lewis
Brisbane Lions: Henry Smith, Darragh Joyce, Oscar McInerney, Deven Robertson, Shadeau Brain, Luke Beecken

GOALS
Box Hill Hawks: Mitch Lewis 4, Kye Declase, Max Ramsden, Ned Reeves, Bodie Ryan 2, Cody Anderson, Jake Arundell, Matthew Hill, Bailey Macdonald, Jasper Scaife, Ethan Stanley
Brisbane Lions: Henry Smith 4, Conor McKenna, Will McLachlan, Brandon Ryan 2, Darcy Craven, Jack Manly, Sam Marshall, Curtis McCarthy, Fergus McFadyen, Oscar McInerney

LEADING DISPOSALS
Box Hill Hawks: Henry Hustwaite 37, Cam Mackenzie 31, Seamus Mitchell 24, Trent Bianco 23, Jai Serong 22
Brisbane Lions: Darragh Joyce 26, Oscar McInerney 21, Deven Robertson 21, Luke Beecken 19, Shadeau Brain 19, Bruce Reville

FIRST SEMI FINAL

Frankston will play in a VFL preliminary final for the first time in 28 years after holding off a fast-finishing Casey Demons in front of a huge crowd at Kinetic Stadium on Saturday night.

The Dolphins reached a 42-point advantage at the seven-minute mark of the third term and looked to have the result firmly in their keeping.

However, the visitors finished the quarter strongly to reduce the margin to 26 points.

Darby Hipwell kicked an important settler for Frankston at the 10-minute mark of the last term to maintain a 25-point buffer, but the Demons refused to give up and slammed through three goals in four minutes to cut the deficit to six points approaching time on.

The Dolphins found a crucial goal from Tom Blamires to settle some nerves, before the Demons hit back immediately via Bailey Laurie.

But when the game needed a hero it was Bailey Lambert who stood tall, sending through a goal from 50m on the run at the 30-minute mark to clinch an 11-point win for Frankston and send the home faithful into raptures.

The ball winning trio of Tom Blamires, Darby Hipwell and Jackson Voss combined for 100 disposals for the victors. They also contributed in other areas, with Blamires laying seven tackles, Hipwell producing eight clearances and Voss creating 11 rebound 50s.

Corey Ellison and Trent Mynott each booted four majors for the Dolphins, which was a season-high for the Dolphins skipper, while Joe Lloyd had nine intercepts from 17 disposals.

A mighty run from the Casey Demons came to an end on Saturday night but it certainly wasn’t through lack of effort.

Tom Campbell maintained his excellent form by recording a season-high 47 hitouts to go along with 24 disposals and 10 clearances, while Bailey Laurie was always involved, racking up 30 touches and eight clearances.

Jai Culley and Mitch Hardie kicked three majors apiece, with Culley also producing a game-high six score involvements, while Hardie laid nine tackles with three of them inside 50.

FRANKSTON              2.2   8.4   13.5   16.5 (101)
CASEY DEMONS     3.2   4.5   8.9      13.12 (90)

BEST
Frankston: Darby Hipwell, Jackson Voss, Tom Blamires, Joe Lloyd, Corey Ellison, Taine Barlow
Casey Demons: Bailey Laurie, Jai Culley, Aidan Johnson, Mitch Hardie, Riley Baldi, Tom Campbell

GOALS
Frankston: Corey Ellison, Trent Mynott 4, Harrison Jones, Tom Blamires, Angus Grant, Will Hamill, Darby Hipwell, Matth Johnson, Bailey Lambert
Casey Demons: Jai Culley, Mitch Hardie 3, Luker Kentfield 2, Paddy Cross, Aidan Johnson, Bailey Laurie, Koltyn Tholstrup, Noah Yze

LEADING DISPOSALS
Frankston: Jackson Voss 34, Tom Blamires 33, Darby Hipwell 33, Tyson Milne 22, Will Hamill 20, Lachlan Riley 20
Casey Demons: Bailey Laurie 30, Jack Billings 26, Tom Campbell 24, Riley Bonner 23, Mitch Hardie 23