FRANKSTON Bombers will play Sorrento in the MPNFL Nepean Division grand final this Saturday at Frankston Park after beating Rye in the preliminary final.
The Bombers produced their best football for three weeks to set up the 15.14 (104) to 10.12 (72) win.
The Bombers were rocked at the selection meeting during the week when onballers Matt Eady and Zac White and key forward Matt Longley were ruled out of the match through injury.
Just before 9am on Saturday, Bombers coach Tony Blackford received a phone message from key playmaker and former Collingwood player Ryan Lonie saying he couldn't play due to illness. Pat Falzon was a late call-up.
Despite being far from full strength, the players who were given an opportunity stood up to the test and played great football.
Matt Bell come into the side and had the better of Ben Holmes in the first half, Dandenong Stingray Jake Batchelor was superb on a wing, James Hasell provided plenty of run from half-back and Falzon provided zip and won his own ball.
However, it was players who had been down in the past few weeks who really stood up.
Haydn Moore was at his superb best. He started in the ruck and competed well, getting his hands on the footy early.
He also kicked three goals and when the Demons came charging in the third, was prepared to go back and help.
Danny Marshall presented well and Grant Masterson was the best player on the ground with six goals. He also did a power of work up the field.
James Degenhardt, Shawn Wilkey, Nathan Lonie and Ben Drake have performed very well in the finals series and continued to do so on Saturday. Wilkey was just pipped by Masterson as the best player on the ground.
The only injury concern to come out of the game for the Bombers was to Matt Bell (ankle), which happened with less than 10 minutes left in the game.
The Bombers were electric in the opening half, winning the ball at will in the middle of the ground and dominating at stoppages.
Conditions were slippery and the Bombers handled them better, trying not to overuse the footy and get the ball deep into attack without overpossessing. It worked, the Bombers booting 10 goals to four in the first half to lead by 46 points at the main break.
Rye had to produce something in the third quarter to make a game of it and it did, forgetting about being cute with the footy through the middle and opting to give Greg Stafford, Ben Holmes, James Keem and Steve Ryan an opportunity to mark the footy.
Holmes kicked four goals for the quarter, Parsons started to win the ball through the middle and before you could blink, the margin was back to 14 points. At three-quarter time, the score was 12.11 (83) to 10.9 (69).
The Demons had a shot for goal in the opening minutes of the final term, which would have reduced the margin to just seven points, but the ball went out on the full, the Bombers took it to the other end of the ground and the first nail was hammered into the Rye coffin with a goal. The Bombers kicked two more goals for the quarter to win by 34 points.
In the reserves, Rye will play Frankston Bombers in the grand final after beating Pearcedale 6.16 (52) to 4.2 (26).
In the under-18s, Red Hill will play Somerville in the big one after beating Frankston Bombers 8.8 (56) to 7.6 (48).
The Independent football writer Toe Punt will be joined by fellow Fairfax sportswriter Jack Heverin and Pearcedale coach Jason Chapple on 3RPP (98.7FM) to call the MPNFL Nepean Division grand final live from Frankston Park this Saturday from 2pm.
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