A DOMINANT opening quarter helped Koroit march into back-to-back Hampden league grand finals on Saturday.
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The Saints left North Warrnambool Eagles shell-shocked at Reid Oval, with an eight-goal burst in the first term putting Koroit in the preliminary final box seat.
It was swift, brutal and effective.
Evergreen Joe McLaren, reigning Maskell medallist Ben Goodall and promising teenager Jayden Brennan were influential in helping the Saints to a 41-point quarter-time advantage.
The Eagles, try as they might, couldn’t bridge the gap, falling at the preliminary final hurdle for the third straight season.
Koroit’s lead was trimmed to 20 points at half-time after North Warrnambool Eagles slotted six goals — four off Mark Murphy’s boot — to add spice to the contest.
But the Saints rallied in the third term, kicking five goals to one to have their grand final place all but sewn up at the final change.
Koroit coach Adam Dowie was content with a 16.18 (114) to 14.5 (89) win.
The astute coach knew the Saints’ emphatic start was the catalyst for the win.
Koroit, eager to respond after a heavy semi-final defeat to Warrnambool, made its intentions clear from the opening bounce.
The Saints won the first centre clearance despite gallant Eagles ruckman Jordan Dillon, who was one of his side’s best, winning the tap.
From there they had space and time to do as they pleased in the first quarter.
They had three on the board before Eagle Sam McLachlan took a strong contested grab in the goal square and kicked his side’s first.
Enter Goodall. The clever midfielder-forward kicked the next two for the Saints before Ethyn Zimmer extended their lead further.
Dillon made the most of a free to kick the Eagles’ second but Koroit’s Sam Dobson, who slotted a game-high five goals, booted the final two of the term.
The Eagles clawed their way back into the contest in the second quarter.
An end-to-end passage set up Murphy for their first and he kicked the next shortly afterwards to give them a spark.
They kicked three more for the term, but talented teenager Willem Drew drilled the Saints’ second nearing half-time to give them a 20-point buffer.
Any chance of a North Warrnambool Eagles’ revival was snuffed out in the third term.
Koroit kicked five goals to one, while the Eagles lost Murphy to concussion, robbing them of their most dangerous target.
Dowie credited the Saints’ bold start for the win.
“It was pretty even after that. The fast start was really important,” he said.
“We were getting the contested footy and our forward line looked really dangerous early on.
“I think they were struggling in terms of rotation to try and combat what we were doing and as a result we had guys running free into our forward line.”
Dowie said Koroit went in desperate to atone for its semi-final loss and give a good account of itself on a big stage.
“It certainly wasn’t elation; it was probably more relief,” he said of his feelings after the final siren. There was a fair bit of pressure on us today because we’d beaten them three times.
“If you have your positive hat on, well you should beat them four times; if you have your negative hat on, well they’re probably due.”
North Warrnambool Eagles coach Bernard Moloney said the club had to build if it wanted to be considered among the league’s top echelon.
“You work hard to get to third spot and we have to work out how to get better,” he said.
“I thought Koroit showed us today where we’re at and it’s probably where we deserve to finish.” Moloney said the Eagles would use the loss as a positive. “It has got to spur them on because it means we’re not far away,” he said.
“We have to look at sides like Warrnambool and Koroit and say ‘what are they doing?’.
“We’re not that far behind but we can’t beat them.
“Do we have to work on our structures? Do we have to be smarter with our game plan? Have we got to get fitter and stronger to compete more physically against those sides or do we have to work on our skill work?
“We have a good group coming up out of the under 18s but we probably have to recruit some players: obviously a key forward, a power forward, and maybe one or two strong-bodied onballers.
“That is the way things are going. You have to have those bigger, stronger bodies but endurance as well.”