Tigers March into Grand Final

Claremont (Colts) will be chasing their second premiership in three years after defeating Swan Districts by 23 points in the second semi final at Bendigo Bank Stadium and booking a place in the grand final.

A blistering six-goal-to-one opening term and dominant third quarter paved the way for the Tigers’ healthy win, 12.14 (86) to 9.9 (63).

The Tigers will now have a bye for the second time in three weeks before facing either Swans or Peel Thunder on September 27.

A brilliant team performance and slick ball movement were the highlights of the win as the Tigers registered 15 more inside 50m entries and eight more scoring shots.

Matt Guelfi, Bailey Rogers, Declan Mountford, Russell Wynne and Bailey Banfield were all outstanding, while Jeremy Goddard’s ruckwork was a sight to behold and was matched by his efforts around the ground.

A stingy Tigers’ defence gave their opponents barely any time or room to operate, while the side had eight individual goal kickers, including two each to Rogers, Keanu Shandley, Jake Waterman and Regan Smith.

The hard running of Jacob Sideris, Tom Gajewski and Ryan Murphy allowed the Tigers to break the lines and drive the ball forward, while the skill and poise of Shandley and Sam Petrevski-Seton were crucial both in and around the contest.

Shaquille Morton was superb in defence, while Morgan Davies provided a target in the forward line and took six marks.

Swans were best served by Brad Lynch, Brayden Hackett and Josh Cipro, while Dylan Smith kicked three goals.

On a beautiful morning, the Tigers kicked to the northern end of the ground in the opening term and made a bright start in general play thanks to the efforts of Goddard, Gajewski and Murphy.

A high-flying mark by David Ehlers lit up the opening minutes, before a goal to Waterman following a perfect pass by Gajewski saw the Tigers take a nine-point lead.

Guelfi then kicked truly from tight in the pocket after being found by Wynne to extend the lead to 15 points, before Swans kicked their first goal through Josh Power.

Some excellent team pressure in the forward line and a handball from Eddie Simpson then allowed Smith to kick the Tigers’ third major and reclaim their 15-point buffer, before goals to Rogers and Davies had the lead out to 27 points on the back of some scintillating play.

A second goal to Rogers saw the Tigers take a 32-point lead at the first change after some of their finest football for the season, with coach Ross McQueen paying tribute to his side’s use of the corridor, tackling pressure (seven tackles inside 50m) and fantastic ball movement.

The exquisite ruckwork of Goddard gave the Tigers first use of the football and saw the team move the ball with fluency and precision, while the appetite for the contest and sheer work rate all over the ground were hallmarks of the performance thus far.

A goal to Simpson following a 50m penalty gave the Tigers a fast start to the second term and saw the lead extended to 38 points, before Smith hit back with consecutive majors for Swans.

Further goals to Robert Mostert and Brody Sutton gave Swans four in a row and saw the Tigers’ lead cut to just 16 points at half-time despite some brilliant second and third efforts by Morton in defence.

By now, Swans had worked their way into the game through the midfield and made the most of their inside 50m entries, with the Tigers needing to rediscover their first-quarter effort and application.

Consecutive goals to Shandley provided a perfect start to the second half for Claremont, and when Smith kicked his second goal following some great efforts by Gajewski and Petrevski-Seton, the Tigers had kicked away once again and led by 36 points.

A goal to Waterman after the three-quarter-time siren following a move which was started by a great tackle on the wing from Davies saw the Tigers take a 42-point lead into the final change after kicking four goals to nil for the term.

McQueen paid tribute to his side’s work at clearances and pointed out the 22 inside 50m entries for the quarter.

Goals to Smith (third) and Brad Fullgrabe saw Swans close to within 30 points at the nine-minute mark of the final term, before Matthew Ehlers kicked truly for the Tigers following some hard running by Gajewski moments earlier.

Goals to Griffen Logue and Sutton (second) saw Swans add some respectability to the scoreboard late on, as the sight of a hard-working Aden Wilkins leaving the ground with what looked to be a dislocated shoulder was a rare concern on a memorable day for Claremont.

CLAREMONT 6.4 7.8 11.12 12.14 (86)

SWAN DISTRICTS 1.2 5.4 5.6 9.9 (63)

GOALS

CLAREMONT: 2 K. SHANDLEY, R. SMITH, J. WATERMAN, B. ROGERS, 1 E. SIMPSON, M. EHLERS, M. GUELFI, M. DAVIES

SWAN DISTRICTS: 3 D. SMITH, 2 B. SUTTON, 1 R. MOSTERT, G. LOGUE, J. POWER, B. FULLGRABE

BEST

CLAREMONT: B. ROGERS, M. GUELFI, R. WYNNE, S. MORTON, J. GODDARD, R. MURPHY

SWAN DISTRICTS: B. LYNCH, B. HACKETT, D. SMITH, A. CLARKE