The Factory made light work in the end of their chase of 118 to defeat Mortlake at Walter Oval in the semi-final, reaching the target with eight wickets to spare.

Delighted skipper Jake Hetherington said he was proud of his group's ability to rise to the occasion.

"I'm pretty relieved, to me there was a bit of stress about being a final but we're happy to be here and to come in off the back of what I was think is almost the perfect game is great," he said.

"We showed our colours at the right time of the season."

A probing new-ball spell from Rob Saker (2-7) set the tone early before quick Tom Smith broke the game open with a fiery four wicket display, snaring 4-42 to skittle the Cats for 117.

"Tom bowled brilliantly, one of the best spells I've seen him bowl and he bowled quick," Hetherington said.

"He was a bit crook a few weeks ago so it was really good to see him back and bowling fast and taking wickets.

"He bowled the right areas and got the job done for us."

Hetherington praised Ben Dobson (40 not out) and Tim Ludeman (36 not out) for their ability to close the game out with a match-winning 76-run partnership.

Ludeman, the former state and BBL gun, in particular, put together his most fluent performance of the season, finding his runs at a decent clip while Dobson anchored the chase with rock-solid defence.

"We were confident at tea, getting the 10 wickets first and with the top-order we've got," he said.

"The wicket was pretty good, it had a few monsters early on but flattened out throughout the day.

"We're so grateful for Ludes and Dobbo were able to dig in and get the job done for us which was really good to see."

The Factory skipper, who will now prepare for his first division one grand final, said he had to pinch himself to have an abundance of experience around him to lean on.

"I'm honoured to have Dobbo, Wiz (Geoff Williams), Ludes, Rob Saker, they're such good cricket brains and thinkers of the game. They've given me a lot of advice so I'm lucky to have those guys in the team," he said.

He added the group was going to enjoy and celebrate the achievement of qualifying for the division one grand final and embrace the build-up to the blockbuster clash against Russells Creek next Saturday afternoon.

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