Harvey Brunswick Leschenault are through to the Solahart South West Reserves Grand Final after defeating Carey Park on Sunday afternoon at Hands Memorial Oval.
In a tight contest, goals for the most part were hard to find, but the Lions were the stronger side in the second half to make next Saturday’s decider.
Jordan Wallam kicked a great goal on the boundary to open the scoring, but a set shot from Tye Armitage put the Lions in front. The Panthers would have the majority of the play in the opening stanza, but managed three behinds, with Jarrod Humphries converting right on quarter time to give the Lions back the lead.
Wallam marked in the goal square at the start of the second quarter to put the Panthers back in front, the fourth lead change of the match. Wallam marked and goal again with seven minutes remaining, with the Panthers out by ten points.
Jarrod Humphries kicked the first goal of the third term, which reduced the margin back to three points and shortly after Beau Mills put the Lions back in front. The Lions were applying plenty of pressure and soon kicked another to turn a ten point half point deficit into a nine point lead. Daniel Italiano extended the margin further, giving the Lions the biggest lead of the match with light drizzle starting to fall.
The final term was a real arm wrestle with both sides missing easy shots at goal, but Daniel Italiano received a free kick, which saw the Lions 28 points in front with ten minutes remaining, with Carey Park unable to close the margin, with the Lions through to the Grand Final against Bunbury.
SCOREBOARD
Harv Bruns Lesch 2.1.13 2.2.14 7.4.46 8.7.55
Carey Park 1.4.10 3.5.23 3.7.25 3.8.26
Goals: Harvey Brunswick Leschenault – Jarrod Humphries 2, Daniel Italiano 2, Ty Armitage 1, Mason Bubb 1, Beau Mills 1, Jordan Westaway. Carey Park – Jordan Wallam 3.
Best: Harvey Brunswick Leschenault – Sebastian Dixon, Finnley Piggott, Daniel Italiano, Kurtis Grout, Leith McWhirter, Beau Mills. Carey Park – Eli Hill, Bill Brown, Jack Jordan, Fabian Hart, Cameron Baker, Jordan Wallam
Ground: Hands Memorial Oval
Umpires: Braden Surrall, Kevin Hutchins, Michael Hearne
Crowd: 1200 approx
Images courtesy of Wayne Hislop