Greenvale held Pascoe Vale at bay early before upping the ante in the last quarter of their Essendon District Football League premier division elimination final.
For much of the first three quarters, the Panthers did most of the attacking, only to be repelled by the Jets’ defence.
The Greenvale defenders held strong despite the flurry of insides-50s heading their direction.
The defenders’ efforts were rewarded at the other end of the ground, as when the ball went inside 50, the Jets’ forwards looked dangerous and were able to hit the scoreboard.
When the Jets went up a level in the last quarter, the Panthers couldn’t match them.
The Jets kicked five last-quarter goals to turn a seven-point three-quarter time lead into a 15.11 (101)-9.12 (66) win.
The Jets will play Aberfeldie in a preliminary final for a spot in the grand final. The Gorillas lost to Keilor on Saturday.
For Jets coach Shannon Grant, the performance was one for which the club had been waiting.
He said the team had weathered the mid-season storm and had come out the other end.
“We knew they are a quality team and extremely dangerous group of players who can be damaging when the game is on their terms,” he said.
“We knew it would take a four-quarter effort … it took, basically, three quarters and 25 minutes to break them.
“We knew we had to keep working and tried to keep fresh legs in the middle of the ground, which I think we did really well.
“We didn’t deviate or break from what we needed to do.”
Grant said that while the leaders stepped up, but they got great contributions from the younger players.
One key to the win was the dominance of the Jets’ forward line. At times this year, the forwards have struggled to find options.
On Sunday, six players kicked two goals each.
“We probably haven’t’ had a forward line which has played a hell of a lot of footy together, with the guys out of the team and the injuries we’ve had,” Grant said.
“We’re starting to get some continuity down there which has helped – they played well.”
Jacob Thompson, who kicked two goals, is already proving to be a dangerous option just two games back from injury.
He missed the Jets’ finals series last year while playing for Essendon’s VFL side.
“He’s a very good player and very hard to match up when you have a Trent Shinners and Matty Smith up there,” Grant said. “He can play tall and play small and can be really good for us at ground level.”
Brett Stillman and Daniel Micevski were named best on ground.
The Jets will play Aberfeldie in a preliminary final for a spot in the grand final. The Gorillas lost to Keilor on Saturday.
The Jets have struggled against the Aberfeldie in recent years.
“There have been a few things we’ve changed over the last few months and we’ll continue to back this group in,” Grant said.
“There’s a strong belief there, which you need at this time of year.”
