HAWK IS THE BEST: League honour for Andy

ANDY McMeel admits maths isn't his favourite subject, with the 16-year-old preferring P.E.The Emmanuel Hawks footballer was recognised for what he was more passionate about last night when he won the Doug McConnell medal, which acknowledges the best and fairest player in Hampden Football Netball League Juniors' under 16 competition.His lack of a strong desire for maths meant he didn't know he had earned the honour until his name was read out in the final match of the final round.Andy secured the medal the round before, when a best-on-ground performance lifted his tally to 24.Below him were North Warrnambool Eagles' Lachie Woodhams, Camperdown's Fraser Lucas and Port Fairy's Sam Lovell, who all had 19 votes, making it impossible for the trio to catch Andy.With no leaderboard update after round 11, the winner conceded he tried to keep tally of all the votes in his head."I was struggling though," he laughed.The Hawk polled three votes in round 14 to see him finish the count on 27 - four votes ahead of Sam, who was named runner-up after a best-on-ground performance in the last round.Andy was surprised by his victory."I thought I had a pretty consistent season but I didn't expect to win it at all," said the midfielder, who used to play in the backline before he worked on his fitness.His focus in a match is based on his stamina."I just try and run as much as I can and I also try and kick a few goals when I can," he said.The award was bittersweet for the Emmanuel College student as the Hawks got knocked out of the finals series on Sunday."We lost to Colac by a goal," he said of the semi-final at Leura Oval. "It was still a good season. We got better as the year went on."Andy finished last night's count with seven best-on-ground performances.He polled two votes once and one vote on four occasions. The award added to his 2009 club best and fairest, which he received at the end of the home-and-away season.