Dowsley turned 19 last Tuesday and played a vital role in pushing Rovers back into the top five after a week out in the 9.11 (65) to 7.6 (48) away win.

The Hawks had lost three successive games, the last two after starting favourites against an injury-hit Myrtleford and eighth placed Wodonga, but the win and form of a local junior delighted the club.

"Alex's composure and ability to convert is something that we really like about him," Hawks' football operations manger Barry Sullivan offered.

"Two of his goals were from a long way out on reasonable angles after the siren, one in the first and one after the final siren."

An enormously popular figure in the club, Dowsley led the reserve grade goalkicking.

The return of GWS VFL captain Ryan Hebron was pivotal in the win, kicking three goals from his eight disposals, but the Hawks must work on their conversion over the final two rounds as they doubled the Roos' inside 50s.

"They folded back on us and defended really well," Rovers' coach Daryn Cresswell explained to Radio 3NE.

Captain Sam Carpenter revealed pre-match the club's effort in recent weeks had lapsed.

"Clearly we had to do some defensive work, our defenders got sucked too high last week, not impacting the contest," Cresswell added.

"We set our defence to be nice and firm and protect their arc a bit more, rather than getting jammed up the ground.

"Clearly we needed to identify some pressure around the footy, which we thought we'd been pretty poor in for a couple of weeks."

Cresswell was impressed by 18-year-old ruck Toby Murray's effort against former VFL rep big man Tom Goodwin, while Jack Gerrish (game-high 33 touches) and Brodie Filo (27) excelled.

The one negative though is interleague on-baller Jake McQueen (knee) will miss the rest of the season with a torn meniscus.

"It's a big loss for us, he's been enormous the way he's played and we'll miss him, he's a much-loved character around the club as well," Cresswell offered.

Hayden Filliponi was outstanding for the home team with five goals, while captain Joe Hansen, Jarred Lane and Jack Schilg (24 touches) also impressed.

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The Roos have now won only three of their last 11 games and are away to Wodonga, while the Hawks are home to North Albury.

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