But what should have been an easy set shot was missed by the captain when he tried to play on quickly and scored only a behind.
Things started to look better for Buffs shortly after when Hull was able to grab the football from the ground after a contest and score the first goal for his side in the 10th minute.
But any sense of the momentum swinging towards the Buffs was dashed two minutes later when Rory Evans took a mark from Austerberry 5m out from goal and slotted the ball through.
Ben Bravos was crucial in Buffs defence for the next five minutes, and was repeatedly found by wayward Rovers kicks.
But Simon Pope was able to take a mark 25m from goal and only 3m from the boundary line and kick a goal even from the tight angle.
Buffs struck back within a minute when Kurumaji put in the effort to smother a Rovers defensive kick. Lockhart was able to scoop the crumbs and find goal to close within 13 points of the lead at half time.
Tempers flared after the half time siren, with the Buffs Kailum Waters and Rovers Mitch Cotterill receiving warnings.
Rovers coach Bill Cook told his men to be more accurate in delivering the ball to their forward line.
Rovers also gained more motivation after team mate Luke 'Funky' Gowing was taken away by paramedics after receiving a rough hit.
Adams asked the Buffs to do what was required to get the footy and keep running.
Kurumaji teamed up with White in the opening minutes of the third quarter for a key play.
From the kick out of a missed shot by Kurumaji, White stormed through the pack to hand pass to Kurumaji who made no mistake the second time round.
But the physical nature of the game quickly overshadowed the contest when Brad Johnson for Buffs and Richard Epstein and Sam Stevens for Rovers were sent off for fighting.
Buffs used their numbers in the back line, at one contest outnumbering the opposition four to one.But Buffs were lucky to not have another goal scored against them when Juracic took a spectacular mark from a floating kick by Dave Ericson.
