EDFL: Noah Bazzano kicks match winner for Hadfield

The son of a Hadfield legend followed his in his father’s footsteps with a match winning goal to keep the Hawks’ season alive as a teammate played his first senior game in eight years.

The Bazzano family knows something about kicking goals for Hadfield.

Former star forward Marco, who played over 300 games, is a legend of the Essendon District league club and once held the record for most goals in a game with 13 back in 1999.

Now it’s his son Noah who is taking centre stage when the Hawks need it most.

On Saturday, Noah kicked a goal after the siren which saw Hadfield keep its Division 2 season alive thanks to a 9.13 (67) to 10.5 (65) win over Taylors Lakes away from home.

It was his third of the afternoon and eighth of the season — although none have been big.

The win saw the Hawks keep touch with fourth-placed Burnside Heights who they now trail by a game-and-a-half plus four per cent.

Hadfield coach Brett Pitts couldn’t be happier for Noah to have had his own moment in the sun.

“The family has a rich history with our club and for Noah to have that opportunity was brilliant,” he said.

“He was about 30m out on a slight angle and didn’t look fazed at all. He wasn’t going to play this year and was a little bit behind the eightball when he decided to because he missed pre-season.

“His engine has been building along with his confidence and now we’re starting to see the full reward.”

Hadfield had 13 former juniors in its senior side on Saturday. Photo: Facebook.

The weekend’s victory saw Pitts’ side even the ledger at 7-7 having now won its last two matches.

The Hawks have been able to get their season back on track after dropping five straight games after starting the year 5-2.

“We had a wretched run,” Pitts said.

“We lost a couple of close games and the morale of the group took a bit of a hit. To the boys’ credit they kept turning up and putting the work in and now we’re still in with a chance to play finals.

“Burnside Heights won’t be an easy game for us next but it’s all in our hands to keep the year alive. They’ve got the better of us twice this year but we know our best is good enough to challenge every side.”

Hadfield coach Brett Pitts. Picture: Hamish Blair

Steve Golding was dominant in a best on ground display for the Hawks — his second in a row.

Meanwhile, Andrew Trende, Rhys Gleisner, Shane Lindsay and Heath McKerchar also impressed.

But the day belonged to Jack Wallace who played his first senior game for the club in eight years.

“He’s a favourite son,” Pitts said.

“He’s been through a bit in the past few years but we’ve been really glad to see him out there. We had 13 former juniors in our senior side on the weekend.

“That’s one of the main ports of call we targeted when I took over a few years. We want Hadfield to be a place where former juniors want to come back and play their footy.”

For Taylors Lakes, Luke McCormack was named the best player on the hard while Darby Lalor and Ethan Caffari battled hard.

The Lions will face Coburg Districts and Burnside Heights to finish the season.

They’ve lost their past four matches.