GNFL: Brigades Football Club belt Blues in round 11

Brigades delivered one of the results of the season so far on Saturday, handing league leaders Railways a seven-goal upset to go to second on the table, with Northampton out for a bye.

WAFL star and state under-17s and under-19s player Jed Hagan topped the best list for the Hawks, but the game did not end without any casualties, with Brigades’ Kalanni Barton hospitalised with a punctured lung after a collision.

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The Hawks outkicked Railways at home in only two quarters, but they were devastating ones.

They had blown a 10-point lead out to nearly nine goals by three-quarter-time and there was no way back in for the Blues.

Hawks coach Cory Foot said he wouldn’t pick out individual players from his side — a measure of the solidity of a team that have challenged under the radar so far this season without obvious stars, with the side working hard to keep pressure on and make tackle targets each quarter.

“I had 22 blokes that ran out and all contributed,” he said.

“It was one we’ve been working towards for a long time now — good to finally beat a team above us. We didn’t try to do it all ourselves.

“That, and our pressure — we made sure our tackle count was right up.

“We know we have to respect Railways, and if we’re not working hard they’ll punish us.”

With a bye next weekend, he said the club would sit down and review footage and there were “always areas to work on” in a season that’s a “marathon” rather than a sprint, and the club would be working on keeping its list healthy to stay the course.

Top scorer Dale Williamson moves to 53 goals for the season after booting four on the day, while Ben O’Brien got three, and Jayden Schofield, Graham Sandy and Jamie Ryder each got two.

Hagan, Barton and Jack Deschamp got one apiece.