Tatyoon continued its strong run of form at the weekend to advance to the Mininera District Football League senior preliminary final.
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The Hawks defied any form from during the season and ladder positions to defeat Glenthompson-Dunkeld at Derrinallum on Sunday.
The Rams had the wood over the Hawks throughout the home and away season, winning both contests.
The Hawks made their intent known early though, booting six goals straight to lead by 27 points at the first break.
“We knew they had started well against us both times so we didn’t want to be playing catch up footy again,” Tatyoon coach Simon Brearley said.
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“We started with plenty of pressure and fortunately our forwards were on song early which put us in a good position.”
The Rams did not lay down after a slow start though, hitting back to cut the margin to 14 points.
Brearley said while the Rams were better in the second term his side could sense they still controlled the game.
“I spoke to the guys at half-time that late in the second quarter they (Rams) started to tire,” he said.
“We opened them up a few times late in that quarter which I think showed we were going to be able to run the game out better.”
Brearley’s intuitions were correct as Tatyoon went on to boot 11 goals to three after half-time to record a 17.11 (113) to 6.9 (45) win.
“Both times we played them during the season we were not at full strength but we were near full strength on Sunday,” Brearley said.
“Finally getting the chance to play in some good conditions with a strong side I was confident we could blow them away.
“We have a fairly fit side so we were able to run over them in the second half.”
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Hawks skipper Sean McDougall went unscathed in his return from an ankle injury, while just one injury concern came out of the game for Tatyoon.
“Nathan Mahoney had a tight hamstring so we took sat him out as a precautionary measure,” Brearley said.
Jack Antonio was best afield for the victors.
“Jack was our best by a fair margin but the most pleasing thing was we had 21 contributors and no passengers,” Brearley said.
“Our bottom six to eight players really stood up.”
The Hawks will face Penshurst in next weekend’s preliminary final, with the winner to face Wickliffe-Lake Bolac in the grand final.
“We have been confident all along we are good enough to play in a grand final,” Brearley said.
“Now we have a full strength side with some good form under our belts we have given ourselves the best chance possible to get there.”