For two and a half quarters it looked as if Mernda would cause an upset in the Northern Football League’s division 2 preliminary final on Saturday.
The Demons went into the match as the underdog against North Heidelberg, who finished on top of the ladder, but immediately took control.
They led by 19 points at half-time, started the second half as they ended the first and continued to be in charge.
But then the Bulldogs began to get into the game. And although Mernda still led by eight points at three-quarter time, the Demons romped away in the final term to win 19.14 (128) to 11.7 (73).
Demons president Jason Berry said Mernda entered the match looking to build on the momentum gained from its win against Lalor in the semi-final.
“I think the way we structured up we were getting a lot of the ball,” he said.
“We didn’t make any changes and took the same team as last week and we tried to play the same way.”
Berry said he thought his side could hold on in the last quarter.
“I knew they would be strong but I thought we could handle it,” he said.
“If we’d been a couple more goals up at three-quarter time or got the first couple of the last quarter, we could have won.
“But we made no impact on the scoreboard in the last quarter.
“North Heidelberg were fantastic and definitely pulled one out of the hat. They had the run in the last quarter that we had in the first half.”
Berry said David Hutchinson, with five goals up forward, and midfielders Luke Shelton and Luke Adams were among the best and that despite the loss there were plenty of positives from Mernda’s season.
“We were one win away from a grand final and further advanced than we should be,” he said.
“In 2011 we got relegated to division 3 and came straight back up.
“We just missed the finals last year and now we’re the third best team in the competition. Next year is about capitalising on that.
“Our reserves are playing in the grand final and five or six under-19s played seniors. I hope we can get a few more playing seniors next year and we’ll look to recruit a few more players.”
Berry said he didn’t see many changes to the coaching panel with Brett Wilson keen to coach again.
