Mernda won its way into their first Grand Final since 2012 after downing Old Eltham Collegians by 36 points in the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 preliminary final at the Whittlesea Showgrounds.
The Demons led virtually all day in the 12.10 (82) to 6.10 (46) result and they have earned another shot at Laurimar in next week’s Grand Final.
“Assistant coach Jarrod King was tremendous in helping us prepare for finals,” Mernda coach Robert Fletcher said.
“His experience as a multiple premiership player in higher divisions has been invaluable and we now have the opportunity to get the ultimate reward.”
Fletcher took great satisfaction from the work of his defence, led by Jesse Guelfo, Dayne Kellett and Riley Vincent, in restricting the Turtles to six goals. Demon fans were sweating on the fitness of Kai Turner, but he recovered well enough to perform well across half back.
Mernda also batted deeper in the midfield on the day, with Joel Harris and Michael Evans getting plenty of it, Evans also drifted forward to boot two majors.
Zachary Racovolis was also a strong contributor, while Matthew Golledge ran hard to create an option when his team needed him to do so.
William Crouch was the most dangerous forward on the field, kicking a goal in each of the last three quarters after narrowly missing a long bomb in the first.
Lachlan Taylor was impressive at half forward, he had sticky fingers in taking several difficult contested grabs and also defended well when behind.
Billy Morrison had a good duel with Matthew Quinton. Morrison wasn’t totally dominating the ruck duels, but did well around the ground, kicking a goal and taking a specky in the third term.
The game followed a similar pattern to both matches that took place the previous weekend in which the winning side was in control for most of the contest, but left the door slightly ajar at the last change.
Old Eltham Collegians were a little slow out of the blocks and the Demons had 2.1 on the board to zero at one stage of the match. However, the Turtles controlled the latter part of the first term, albeit only scoring a single goal through Paul Vidinopoulos.
The Turtles briefly hit the front early in the second quarter when Matthew Williamson goaled from close range. It was to be his only goal for the game, although he had some chances to add to his tally at times.
Daniel Smith was busy for Mernda in the second term and marked on the boundary at fifty and despite it appearing to be a low percentage shot, he went back and sent it straight over the goal umpire’s hat. The goal regained the lead for the Demons, and they were never to be headed thereafter.
Goals to Crouch and Jayden Bell gave Mernda a handy 17-point break at the main interval. Both teams had their troubles early, Old Eltham Collegians were regularly in a good spot to hit loose targets in the forward half, but their field kicking skills were poor.
The Demons were getting their hands on the ball around half forward a lot, but often bombed it in without looking for better options.
The best move for the Turtles was when Jayden Kearney went from defence to be a crumbing forward at the feet of Williamson. Kearney kicked one of his two goals courtesy of a free and a fifty early in the third term to reduce the deficit to 11-points.
Mernda eventually levelled up the quarter to two goals apiece and increased their half time lead ever so slightly to 18 points at the final change.
As the game was within grasp for Old Eltham Collegians, coach Matt Sleeman urged his players not to panic, wait for options and man up quickly to stop the opposition chipping the ball around so as to chew up the clock.
Snapping goals from Demons duo Christian Evans and Billy Morrison blew the lead out to 29 points early in the last term and the game always looked safe from that juncture onwards.
“We got a little closer than this time last year, I’m proud of the group,” Matt Sleeman said.
“Eden Simpson and Daniel Cartisano have led the way with their preparation and deserve special praise.”
Simpson was the best in the midfield for the Turtles with help from Cartisano and Jeremy Murphy. Cartisano had to recover from multiple hamstring injuries this season and forced his way back into the senior side in Round 14.
Liam Rushton-McCoach was able to use his long-kicking skills to advantage at times and was a solid contributor in a defence that was under siege at certain stages of the match. Tom Cleary also assisted in driving the ball out of defence.
While Old Eltham Collegians fans will rue back-to-back preliminary final losses, the win for the Demons is reward for a great season, with still more to come.
