IT will be the final chance to secure a grand final berth in Western Border football tomorrow, with the preliminary final set to provide an entertaining contest between Casterton Sandford and East Gambier.
Neither side will have an advantage, with the final played at Millicent’s McLaughlin Park ground in front of what is expected to be a big crowd.
Both sides have shown improvement throughout the 2017 season, with the Cats coming on strong at the back end of the year.
For the Bulldogs it has been a matter of a solid season, before a few hiccups late.
That included a healthy defeat at the hands of the Cats in Round 13, with the Bulldogs held to just 15 points in three quarters of football.
It was played down at Island Park, but East was never in the game, apart from a short burst at the start of the final quarter where they threatened to close the 55-point margin and finish victorious.
However, it was too little, too late, with the Cats showing enough composure to control the remainder of the game.
That result would surely be playing on the minds of the Bulldogs and would no doubt add to the confidence of the Cats, knowing they can hold off a hard-charging East when the chips are down.
The Cats would also be buoyed after Monday night’s medal count, where Michael Cummings and Josh Stephenson both finished high up the leaderboard in the league voting.
From Round 13 Casterton Sandford went on undefeated, including an impressive victory over North Gambier the following week, while East fell in the final round to the struggling West Gambier, which would have hurt pride more than anything else.
That final minor round saw the Cats inflict a big defeat on Millicent, showing they were peaking at the right time of the year.
But as finals always show, it is a different ball game and when the Cats faced the Saints the following week in the first semi-final, just 22 points separated the two at full time, rather than the 56 from a week earlier.
It was still a comfortable victory, giving the Cats the ideal lead-up to the vital preliminary final clash tomorrow.
For East it has been two losses in a row, with the disappointing performance against West in Round 16, followed by last week’s defeat in the second semi-final at the hands of the Tigers.
All those results suggest the momentum is with the Cats, with East possibly underdogs heading into tomorrow.
Both sides have a long list of goal scorers, although the Cats win over Millicent in the first semi-final did not show that.
Only four players contributed majors, but with just nine goals on the board at the end of the day, it was enough to claim the points.
Trent Nesbitt led the way with four majors, while coach Hamish Jarrad and Dylan Ryan added two each.
Nesbitt was in ominous form, as was Ryan and with many more able to convert, the Bulldogs will have a big task at the defensive end of the ground tomorrow.
East’s loss to North saw the same scenario unfold, with just four goal kickers.
Co-coach Matt Scanlon led the way with five, while Kev Thomson added a further four to the 12-goal total.
Just like East, Casterton Sandford will need to close the defensive zone down, with the likes of Mark Rumbelow due for a bag.
His high-flying antics could well pave the way for a victory, with his forays up the ground to claim a big mark another area the Cats need to focus on.
East’s movement out of the centre is as fast as any, with Mark Kieselbach a tough prospect in the ruck for his Cats counterpart Sam Broomby.
If he can provide first use to the likes of co-coach Matt Willson, Matt Dempsey or Shem Balshaw, the Bulldogs have the ability to move the ball fast toward goals.
The Cats have that same ability, with Jarrad, Stephenson, Cummings and Dylan Ayton all ready to pounce.
The final result will come down to which side remains more composed over the full four quarters.
If Jarrad can keep his players focused on the job, it could well pay off, with the previous win over East showing the job can be achieved with relative comfort.
For Scanlon and Willson it will be a matter of pulling it all together, which seems to have escaped the Bulldog camp in recent weeks.
However, last week’s loss to North was by no means a disgrace.
East stood tall and the game was in the balance right into the final term.
In the end it appeared the Tigers were more composed when it was required.
The Bulldogs will need to turn that around this week, with their positive season now on the line.
If they work together and show some of the early-season form, they will be hard to beat.
The Cats are certainly playing for pride and will be hard to overcome.
With such good form leading into the finals series, they will not want to finish up this week.
If they can make the grand final, they will certainly be a threat to the Tigers, especially if the game still goes ahead at Island Park, should the weather hold out and the rivers stay down.
But that is of course another factor which will play no part in tomorrow’s game.
First the Cats have to overcome the Bulldogs and it is anyone’s guess who will book a berth in the grand final.
The Bulldogs should be able to pull it together in such a cut-throat scenario and should claim the win, but only by a small margin.
