Caloundra booked itself a ticket in the U18 Div 2 grand final on Sunday.
Caloundra earned itself an U18s Division Two grand final berth, beating Coorparoo 20.20 (140)- 7.9 (51) on Sunday.
With an opening half that coach, Tim Francis, described as “near-perfect”, the Panthers set the tone early, coming off a week’s rest.
Holding a 62-point lead at the major break, the Panthers were well on the way to the granny, and stormed home with 10 second-half goals, to cruise to victory.
Francis said his side’s intensity was the major difference in the match.
“Our attack on the football was 100 percent,” he said.
“The boys are just really hungry to get first use and when we did, we used it really well.”
Francis said the opportunity that a number of his players had to play at senior level this year helped his side play at a finals intensity.
“Eight of them have played in our ones throughout the course of the year and that definitely fast tracked their football,” he said.
In a dominant display, the Panthers had an even spread across the ground, a fact which pleased Francis greatly.
The win means the Panthers have a week off and face the winner of this Sunday’s preliminary final.
Caloundra showed in yesterday’s match that a week off certainly won’t hurt them, and Francis said it would be a welcome boost ahead of the major decider.
“A couple of the guys will probably play senior footy again this week and there are guys that are a little bit sore and they can have a bit of a rest,” he said.
Francis said the side was excited to play off in the decider.
“From a club point of view, it’s absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“These boys will be going into play for our senior side for the next couple of years and the experience they’ll take with them will be great.”
“And really good reward for the boys. They played well this year and it’s a good reward to get to the grand final.”
At Kianawah Rd, Wynnum got the better of Yeronga, 13.8 (86) – 8.10 (58), winning a preliminary final spot in the process.
With their season on the line the undermanned Vikings showed their mettle in the win, after a number of players withdrew with illness before the game.
After a late fadeout cost them in their qualifying final against Coorparoo in week one, Vikings coach, Matt Cordwell, said it was good to see his side run out the game strongly.
“It was really encouraging and there were plenty of positives, given we had a few players pull out and were undermanned from the start,” Cordwell said.
“After not being able to run out the game against Coorparoo, it was good to finish in fine form and kick 5.6 in the last quarter.”
Wynnum’s Jake Perejmibida was superb on Devils full-forward, Nicholas Frankcombe, who dominated in their last clash.
Cordwell said it was team efforts like Perejmibida’s and Dan Cordwell’s tagging in week one that had helped build the foundations for his side.
“It’s extremely important to have such a wide range of players willing to sacrifice their own games for the value of team,” he said.
The win sets up a preliminary final clash with Coorparoo on Sunday, a replay of their qualifying final in week one of the finals.
