The Magpies booked their spot in the penultimate week of finals with a 52-32 win over Cobden in Sunday’s elimination first semi-final at Gardens Oval.

Now, they are preparing to take on the team which defeated them by two goals in the qualifying final a little over a week ago.

Narrow margins have become something of a habit with the two sides this year: Camperdown won by a goal in their first clash, and North Warrnambool by a goal in their second of the home-and-away season.

“I just hope it’s not close again – I hope we can be separated a bit one way or the other,” Finch said, laughing, after Sunday’s win.

“We’ve had some tremendous tussles and they’re really great, competitive games. They’re a great side, they’re strong right down the court.

“Whoever turns up on the day and takes their chances will probably come away with the win.”

The Magpies jumped out of the blocks with the first five goals of the semi-final, but Cobden snapped out of its daze to keep them in check for the next two quarters.

While the Bombers were never able to drag the scoreboard back to level pegging, they trailed by just six goals at quarter-time and had shaved it back to four by the main break.

But a strong third term from the Magpies saw them take an unassailable 11-goal lead, before a blowout in the last quarter pushed the end margin out to 20 goals.

The Magpies’ defensive combination of Emma Wright and Brooke Richardson stood up wonderfully against the energetic and zippy Cobden goaling combination of Molly Hutt (21 goals) and Alicia Blain (11).

At the other end of the court, an accurate Emily Finch dropped in 32 goals in an impressive perfomance, while Jaymie Finch gave her good feed and finished with 20 goals of her own.

Coach Finch said recovery would be the focus for his charges this week as they look to bounce back from a tough, physical clash with a six-day turnaround.

Cobden coach Nadine McNamara lauded the efforts of Bombers captain and wing attack Lisa Gardner in the clash, while Jess Wheadon was again dynamic and creative in wing defence.

“It was a really fantastic game to start with, and then we’re obviously disappointed with our last quarter,” she said. “To let it blow out to what it did is obviously not what we wanted, but credit to Camperdown, they kept pushing to the final whistle.”

Although it was not the end to the season the Bombers hoped for, McNamara said they could take pride in making it to the semi-finals.

At the halfway point of the season, the Bombers had just two wins to their credit, but they won seven of their nine games in the second half to sneak into fifth.

They defeated Warrnambool in the elimination final, but could not overcome the Magpies, who finished second on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season.

“We need to look back and reflect on our amazing season we’ve had,” McNamara said. “To fight back and earn ourselves a finals position and then be competitive through finals is fantastic for such a young group.”