The Hawks came from three goals down at quarter time to record a hard-fought win at Barellan Sportsground, 12.7 (79) to 8.5 (53).

The Hawks were left without a bench early in the third term after losing key forward Jarrad Boumann (calf), Caleb Wild (concussion) and Harry Leddin (hard knock) to injuries.

But it did not stop the Hawks as they produced a five-goal third term to put away the Two Blues and record a fourth straight win.

EWK coach Matt Hard was proud of the way his team rallied with their backs against the wall.

"They turned up to play so full credit to them guys. In saying that too, I'm proud of our guys because we then wrestled momentum back and then held it for the rest of the game," Hard said.

"Ten minutes into the third quarter we didn't have a bench. We already had a few out and everything so to win by four and a half goals with a few things going against us, I was really happy.

"I was very proud of my boys because we toughed it right out."

MORE SPORT NEWS

The Hawks kicked the first two goals of the game before Barellan, with the aid of a breeze, responded with the next five to lead by 18 points at quarter time.

EWK were able to restrict Barellan to just one behind in the second term and took a two-point lead into the main break.

The game was in the balance entering the second half but it was the visitors who stepped up and took control. The Hawks kicked seven goals to three, despite having no bench, to dish Barellan their second loss of the year.

Hard said the Hawks' pressure was a big reason behind the win.

"I thought it was purely our pressure to be totally honest. It was probably as good as it's been all year for three quarters I thought. I thought it was really good," Hard said.

"We started to win the footy on the inside, and we've been talking about it a lot but we've learnt to control the momentum of the game, which I thought the longer it went the more we done so, so I was very happy with that side of things to be totally honest.

"It was a good win for what we had, I was rapt with it."

Boumann copped a suspected corked calf after booting two early goals. With fellow key forward Wilson Thomas already out, it forced the Hawks to change their approach in attack.

"You chuck Wilson Thomas out, and then Boumann going out too, we've had to change a few things around today, throughout the course of the day, so I was really happy that the boys didn't deviate from what we want to do," he said.

"It was good that they stuck to their guns and scrapped it out."

Jarrod Turner kicked three goals and had a big impact for the Hawks, while Brocke Argus, Luke Cuthbert, Harry Fitzsimmons and Kyle North-Flanagan were strong contributors.

Sean Ellis, Kabe Stockton and Ben Cleaver were among Barellan's better players.

Full-time

EWK Hawks 2.1 5.4 10.6 12.7 (79)

Barellan Two Blues 5.1 5.2 7.3 8.5 (53)

GOALS: EWK Hawks: J.Turner 3, B.Argus 2, J.Boumann 2, N.Curran 1, R.Bourne 1, J.Piercy 1, H.Fitzsimmons 1, M.Tiernan 1; Barellan Two Blues: S.Ellis 2, H.McKenzie 2, J.Brittliff 2, M.Irvin 1, M.Fiore 1

BEST: EWK Hawks: J.Piercy, J.Turner, B.Argus, T.Garner, L.Cuthbert, H.Fitzsimmons; Barellan Two Blues: B.Cleaver, H.McKenzie, R.Irvin, M.Irvin, S.Ellis, L.Paterson.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: