Laurimar secured a historic finals win and in turn, booked their spot in the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 grand final after comfortably defeating South Morang by 36 points at the Whittlesea Showgrounds.
Leading at every change, the Power kicked six unanswered goals between the six-minute mark of the second term and three quarter time, which safely sealed the 10.10 (70) to 5.14 (44) result.
The triumph is not only the Power’s first ever finals victory but they’ll also play in their first decider in just their fifth season in the league.
“Our pressure and effort were first class and we won the contested ball,” said Laurimar coach Jimmy Atkins.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the grand final and that’s where our focus is now.”
The Power won in most areas of the ground and one such statistic was the tackle count. Leading the way in that regard was Jake Richards who not only put pressure his opponents into errors, but his use of the ball was exemplary. He also sealed the win with his first goal of the season midway through the final term.
Luke Wilson began extremely well in the midfield and finished full of running late in the game.
“It’s a relief to finally get a finals victory,” he said.
“Jimmy Atkins had a clear message for us, to go out and play our best footy and we did that today.”
Wilson enjoyed having Mitch Thompson back in the team after he missed several weeks with injury and the synergy between the two was evident.
With both the coach and several players having Whittlesea connections, the Laurimar players will feel at home when playing the grand final at the Showgrounds in two weeks’ time.
Ex Eagle Nathan Andrews did well at half back for the victors, while Ethan Bateman stood out in his ruck/forward role and finished with two majors.
Ethan Frawley was an inclusion after missing the last regular season game and was a solid contributor while Brad Deed slotted two goals, including a great effort form the boundary in the first term.
South Morang was playing catch-up football all day. They did have some periods of dominance but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard. One such period was in the latter part of the second term, but a return of four behinds during that time period left them 12 points adrift at the main break.
The second half started as the first half ended, with the Lions pressing hard. They won the ball from the first centre bounce, but a snap from Jake Potter went wide. South Morang missed two more shots early in the quarter before Laurimar kicked a major against the run of play courtesy of Brad Deed.
From that moment onwards, the Power controlled the game. South Morang kicked nine straight behinds from early in the second term until they finally slotted a goal from the boot of Jake Potter in the final quarter. By then the deficit was 28 points and the game was gone.
“We started off flat and got beaten in every area,” said South Morang coach Gary Hall.
Hall had praise for Jake Potter’s efforts. He finished with two goals but suffered from less than wonderful delivery from further afield, much of this was due to the pressure applied by Laurimar players all over the ground.
Matthew Trim also kicked two majors and worked hard through the midfield. Nathan Stefanile contributed well in the ruck and Nathan Bell was a good link player through the middle of the ground. Liam Failla and Mitch Kalpakis stood out in defence.
