A showdown against Montmorency in the 2013 Grand Final awaits both Bundoora and Northcote Park when they meet in the preliminary final at Preston City Oval on Sunday.
Bundoora had to use its double chance to get to this encounter after letting slip a 40-point lead against the Magpies in last week’s second semi final.
Northcote Park, on the other hand, is the form side of the competition and romped to its second huge finals win when it thumped Heidelberg last Sunday.
How the Bulls respond to last week’s devastating loss is the great unknown. They had one foot in the Grand Final when Ricky Dyson goaled from 80m on the three-quarter time siren, but coughed up a big lead for the second week running.
In an alarming statistic, they have been outscored by 15 goals to three in their two fourth terms in this year’s finals series.
Injuries remain a concern with James Lord and Andrew Carmusciano both missing last Saturday, while star defender Trent Barbero also looks under an injury cloud after failing to play out the match.
Those are the negatives, but the positive has been their blistering form during the opening three quarters of the past fortnight.
At their best, the Bulls are very well capable of taking out this year’s premiership, as exemplified by their ability to extend out to leads of more than six goals against quality opposition in the first two weeks of the finals series.
Gary Moorcroft heads into this clash in blistering form, following a seven-goal haul – the same amount he booted in his last clash against Northcote Park. Meantime, Matthew Dennis and Adrian Papaluca are both in superb form after two massive finals games.
Having followed its ten-goal belting of Eltham with an equally impressive 57-point win over Heidelberg, Northcote Park is looking every chance of repeating history and winning a premiership from fourth place on the ladder.
Playing a captivating brand of football suited perfectly to Preston City Oval, the Cougars continue to run opposition teams off their feet.
Their ball use through half back is exceptional thanks to the sublime foot skills of Shaun Lorenzini, Nick Carter and Ben McNeice, while forwards Koden Colman and Patrick O’Connell combined for 11 goals last week.
A number of emerging youngsters played a huge role in dashing Heidelberg’s dream of a tenth-successive Grand Final appearance, with rangy forward James Hodder and Kane Slater playing their part and Brock McLennan displaying football wares beyond his years.
The concern was an injury to run-with player Daniel Ledda who didn’t feature after half time against Heidelberg and will be missed against Bundoora’s strong midfield if he doesn’t come up this Sunday.
Honours have been shared between the sides this year, with Northcote Park claiming a three-goal win at home in Round 3, before Bundoora came from 35 points down early in the second term to claim a 41-point win in Round 18.
The sides also met in last year’s finals series, where Northcote Park prevailed by 20 points to end Bundoora’s 2012 campaign.
HEAD TO HEAD IN 2013
Round 12: Bundoora 20.14 (134) def Northcote Park 14.9 (93)
Round 3: Northcote Park 14.18 (102) def Bundoora 11.15 (81)
