Tara Murray
Laurimar may be through to its first Northern Football League division 3 grand final, but the work is far from over.
The Power, who have been getting closer each year, beat South Morang in its semi final on Saturday, 10.10 (70)-5.14 (44) to win through to the decider.
The Power led by 12 points at half time before kicking five goals to two in the second half to come away with the win.
For Power coach Jimmy Atkins it’s a bit of relief that they’ve finally got through to the final match of the year, especially after sitting on top for most of the year.
“It was a good day,” he said. “We’ve saved our best football for finals.
“The guys who have been around since day dot are pretty excited and happy. There’s still one more game left though.”
Atkins said their contested work was really strong and had set up the match for them.
He said the first half was really tight.
“We were in control of the scoreboard for most of the game,” he said. “The first half was pretty tough before we kicked away in the third quarter.
“We were able to hold on in the last quarter.”
Atkins said it was in the midfield where they won the game, led by the likes of Jake Richards and Luke Wilson.
The Power will now get a week off before the grand final. They will face the winner of South Morang and Old Eltham Collegians.
The Turtles beat Kilmore in the other semi final.
Atkins said on Sunday they were yet to discuss how they would approach the next few weeks.
“We have a few sore bodies, so it might be a lighter week on the track,” he said.
“We will try to keep the structure pretty much the same to get that rhythm and momentum.
“Our reserves and under-19s are playing finals as well so we’ll look to stick all together.”
In division 1, Thomastown’s season came to an end against Diamond Creek.
Having snuck into finals in the final round of the season, the Bears were looking to upset the Creekers.
At three quarter time that looked as it might be on the cards, with the Bears leading by three points against an inaccurate Creekers.
The Creekers finally kicked straight in the final quarter and with five goals to one, sealed an 11.13 (79)-9.3 (57) win.
