Eltham have fought off a resilient Diamond Creek outfit to win their way through to the 2022 MC Labour Division 2 grand final, prevailing by nine points at Epping Recreation Reserve.
Having gone their last 15 games unbeaten heading into the finals, the Panthers came close to an unlikely straight sets exit after trailing by 19 points midway through the third quarter.
But Robert Hyde’s men were able to push through in the final term, kicking the final four majors of the match to win 7.3 (55) to 6.10 (46), setting up another battle with Banyule in next week’s decider.
It will be their first grand final appearance in four seasons as they look to end a 20-year senior men’s premiership drought.
Youngster Finnbar Maley was massive for his side. The ruck was pitted up against Nicholas Barro and got the better of the Creekers’ big man, having an influential day in the ruck contests, while bobbing up forward and kicking an early goal for the Panthers.
Having been a late out against Banyule last week, Michael Still came back into the side and had an impact in just his seventh game of the season. He’d impress across half-forward and run into an open goal and score the major which sealed a grand final spot.
Meanwhile Mikael Avramov, Darcy Vallance and Luke Sirianni were also handy contributors in the win. Meanwhile after a quiet day out last week, Daniel Owen stood up and led the scoring with three goals.
For Diamond Creek, Hugh Kavanagh put in one of his best performances of the season. The defender did all he could to try get his side over the line having been a rock down back. He’d prove valuable with his intercept marking and tackle pressure, though ultimately, he wouldn’t get reward for effort.
Meanwhile Robby Noble, James Marchbank and David Mennen were also gallant in the losing effort.
Despite conceding the first goal of the preliminary final inside the opening minutes, the Creekers would get on top and lead for the rest of the first half to take a seven-point advantage into both quarter time and half time.
They threatened to run away with the game in the third term when Sam Gleeson and Nicholas Barro goaled early, pulling their side out to a three-goal lead.
But just as things started to turn Diamond Creek’s way, it was Eltham who started to get a run on.
The Panthers would go on to kick two crucial goals at the backend of the third term to trail by just five points heading into the final change.
Though having spurned their chances for most of the day, the Panthers ultimately found the goals when it mattered in the fourth term, kicking the only two goals of the final period, thanks to Still and Anton Woods, to earn a place in next week’s grand final.
