The Hawks maintained their position on top of the ladder with a 3-1 win over the Sharks at Forest Hill on Sunday.

Lake Albert produced one of their best displays of the season and did the majority of the attacking for large periods of the contest but were still unable to crack if for their second win of the year.

An early goal to Ploenges put Henwood Park in front, before he was taken from the field after a head clash.

The Sharks did most of the attacking for the remainder of the first half and were rewarded shortly after the break when Moses Redamwang clinched the equaliser.

There was little between the two sides as both teams searched for a winner and it was Damon Watson who found it for Henwood Park with a brilliant individual effort.

Ploenges then made the most of a through ball to seal the 3-1 win.

Henwood Park coach Scott Elphick was pleased with his team's improved showing after the half-time break.

"The second half was better than the first. Definitely better," Elphick said.

"We actually played football in the second half. In the first half, we played their Wagga-style football.

"Nothing against Lake, they're hard players, they're a hard-hitting team so we had to switch on and get it done.

"We stuck to the team task in the second half after we had a good chat at half-time and away they went. The guys played a good second half, which was good, I was happy with that."

Elphick explained the process behind Ploenges' late return.

"We had to make sure he was okay, do the right procedure and put him back on," he said.

Ploenges and Watson were both clinical up front, while Ben Bedwell, Chris Hart and Joel Tancredi were strong in defence.

Elphick was also happy with how the Hawks were able to experiment with a different formation.

"We changed our formation too, we were playing a different style of football today," he said.

"We were playing 4-4-2, just something a little bit different and to see how it goes. Everyone in this league seems to play the 4-3 so we decided to try something different. And it worked."

Lake Albert lost Liam Bryder to injury early in the second half. The Sharks were well served by Redamwang, who provided plenty of spark in attack, and Jamie Rankin.

The loss almost puts to bed Lake Albert's chances of playing Pascoe Cup finals this season.

Henwood Park 3 (J Ploenges 2, D Watson) d Lake Albert 1 (M Redamwang)

Tolland 2 (C Barber, J Watson) d Tumut 1 (R Mastellotto)

Leeton 1 (A Raso) drew with Hanwood FC 1 (N Battochio)

Wagga United 2 (L Weir, A Merrigan) d South Wagga 0

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