Dogs fight Colbo for place in final

NORTH Bendigo and Colbinabbin will fight for a place in the Bendigo Bank Heathcote District FNL grand final in Saturday’s preliminary final at Elmore from 2.15pm.

At stake is the chance to earn a crack at Mount Pleasant in the season decider on September 13 at Huntly’s Strauch Reserve.

A 15-1 run by North Bendigo across the home-and-away series included wins against Colbinabbin by margins of 22 and 24 points.

After a rest in week one of the finals series, North Bendigo took on Mount Pleasant in last Saturday’s second semi-final at Colbinabbin’s M.J. Morgan Oval.

The Blues won 78-75 and now have a two-one record against the red, white and blue this season.

Colbinabbin won Sunday’s first semi-final against the Harlowe Huntly Hawks by 14 points at Lockington’s Nichol Trading Oval.

The Linton Jacobs-coached Colbinabbin faced a one-goal deficit at the start of the final quarter, but then slammed on 5.4 as it kept the Hawks to a tally of 2.2.

By the final siren the Grasshoppers were up 78-64 in a match where key forward Brandyn Grenfell, Nathan Basile, Alex Carr and Angus Martin were best for the green and gold.

A Grasshoppers attack led by Grenfell, Alex Carr and Nick Knight will test the Bulldogs all match.

The North Bendigo forward line includes Dylan Klemm, Jake Dean and Jordan Ford.

Key players for the Bulldogs include co-coach Ryan Hartley, Will Gilmore, Nic Waterson, Matt Gray and ruckman Jordan Hargreaves.

Colbinabbin has Hadleigh Sirett and the run and creativity of Aidan Basile, Isaac Carracher, Will Lowe and Alex Van Ruiswyk.

A big day for North Bendigo includes the reserves taking on Huntly from 12pm.

The Bulldogs unbeaten streak was ended as Mount Pleasant marked a 77-40 victory in the second semi-final.

Huntly scored a 69-57 win against Lockington Bamawm United in the first semi.

Saturday’s footy action kicks off with the under-18s match between White Hills and Lockington Bamawm United at 9.45am.

The Demons are on the rebound from a 23-point loss to the unbeaten North Bendigo, while LBU won the first semi against Heathcote by 64 points.