Tullamarine booked a place in the Essendon District Football League division 1 grand final by inflicting West Coburg’s second loss of the season on Saturday.
The Saints and the Demons have been the best two teams all season, but until this week Tullamarine had been unable to knock off the Saints.
With a grand final berth on the line, the Demons stepped up to a surprisingly easy win, 12.17 (89) to 9.4 (58).
PICTURE GALLERY | Tullamarine v West Coburg
“We made an effort around the stoppages and clearances and looked to lock the football in,” Demons’ coach Ash Manning said.
“It made for an unattractive game but we got the result we were hoping for.
“It could have been a lot larger margin if we kicked straight. We ran over the top of them.”
Manning said he thought the run was the biggest difference in the second half, where they extended the lead from six points at half-time to 31 at the final change.
He said only captain Colin Laurie from the best 22 missed the match.
“He’ll probably be right for the grand final,” Manning said.
“We’re in a lot better shape than last year, when we limped into the preliminary finals.
“We have been a bit luckier. We’ll have no excuses this year. We can win it.
“We have eight or 10 players who have experienced grand finals and the rest not so many finals. We have enough experience in big games.”
The Demons will either face West Coburg or Taylors Lakes in the grand final.
Taylors Lakes reached this weekend’s preliminary final with a 16.16 (112) to 13.11 (89) win against Westmeadows at Windy Hill on Sunday.
The Lions got the jump early on the Tigers and led by 15 at quarter-time.
Westmeadows reduced the margin to six by the midway point on the back of better football and the Lions’ inaccuracy in front of goal.
But Taylors Lakes had the answers when needed in the second half and whenever the Tigers got back within a couple of goals the Lions hit back with goals of their own.
