Bundoora had to come from behind to snatch a Northern Football League division 1 grand final spot.
The Bulls had to do it the hard way, but it didn’t matter in the end as they defeated Northcote Park, 9.13 (67)-8.9 (57).
Playing each other for the second time this finals series, Bulls coach Ricky Dyson said it was similar to the first time, when the Bulls lost by two points.
On that occasion the Bulls were trailing by 31 points at three-quarter time. On Sunday, they were down by 11 points heading into the final quarter.
“It was a really good contest and we knew they would come out hard after being beaten by Macleod last week,” he said.
“The longer the game went the more confident we were of getting the win with the way we had been playing.
“Last time we got half-way through the quarter and couldn’t get in front. This time it worked out the way we wanted it to.”
He said there was a number of good players across the ground.
“Joey Palazzolo and Brendan Carlyon were really good on the ball,” he said.
“The back six were pretty solid all day with Scott Dowell leading the way.
“The Grabowski brothers [Nicholas and Josh] were really good with their pressure in the front half.”
The win sets up a grand final with Macleod, which had the weekend off after winning through the previous week.
The grand final will be the Bulls first since they defeated Montmorency in the 2013 grand final.
Gary Moorcroft kicked six goals that day.
Dyson said it was a really exciting time for the club.
“It’s super exciting and a lot of hard work has been done through the pre-season and year,” he said.
“It’s nice to get reward and to be able to play on the last day of the year. About half the team played in 2013.
“There’s a lot of new guys, some guys who haven’t played in grand finals or a lot of finals.
“There’s a couple of young guys in the team and it’s a really good mix.”
Macleod won the two regular season matches between the two clubs, the first by 62 points and then a one point thriller.
Dyson said it was clear Macleod had been the best team all season, but anything can happen on grand final day.
“We’ve done enough to get into that position and we’re really excited about it,” he said.
“We’ll leave nothing out there.”
Meanwhile, North Heidelberg will join Bundoora in division 2 next season after winning’s Saturday’s division 2 grand final.
The Bulldogs kicked the first five goals against Diamond Creek and it was a sign of things to come, in a dominant 19.15 (129)-7.10 (52) win. Mitchell Dillon and Shane Harvey finished with five goals a piece for the Bulldogs, with Jesse Tardio awarded the best on ground medal.
