By Lance Jenkinson
Deer Park is one win away from a historic sixth straight Western Region Football League division 1 premiership.
The Lions battered minor premiers Altona by 53 points in the second semi-final at Avalon Airport Oval to book their place in the grand final.
Lions coach Marc Bullen is aware of the significance of a sixth consecutive flag.
“If we can win six grand finals in a row, that would be uncharted waters,” he said.
“I’m really confident in the team.
“We’ve played a lot of footy together.
“We’ve been exposed to the big stage, we’ve been exposed to pressure.”
Deer Park was slow out of the blocks.
The Lions trailed Altona by 22 points midway through the opening term.
“We were that little bit rusty that first quarter,” Bullen said.
“It was a tough hard grind early, but once we sort of got the ball rolling, we just had too much class across the field.”
The bulk of the second and third quarters was played between the arcs.
While there were momentum swings, neither side could assert their dominance.
Deer Park edged it on the scoreboard by nine points and would have gone into three-quarter time with a pep in their step, but no one could have foreseen what they were about to produce in an electrifying last quarter.
With Altona down two rotations and tiring, the Lions upped the ante to produce arguably their best quarter of football of the season, piling on seven goals to nil in the last 30 minutes to clinch victory and take a massive psychological edge over their opponents should they meet again in the grand final.
“To grind the way that we did early and to hit the line late the way we did was a fantastic effort from the boys,” Bullen said.
“There were so many critical moments where we had the upper hand.
“We were able to win the one-on-one contests more often than not.
“It was just a really good confidence building entry into a grand final.”
Such was the evenness of their team performance, it was hard to pinpoint a standout player for Deer Park.
James Wong was always a threat for Deer Park inside forward 50.
Coming into the match off a limited preparation, Wong managed to kick five goals.
“He was first class Wongy,” Bullen said.
“He was so important for our ability to manufacture goals.” Deer Park will meet the winner of the preliminary final match between Altona and Hoppers Crossing at Burbank Oval on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the division 2 grand final has been set with Yarraville-Seddon to meet Point Cook at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday.
Point Cook was too strong for Parkside in the preliminary final, winning by 83 points in a one-sided game at the Whitten Oval.
The division 3 grand final will be contested by Point Cook Centrals and Wyndham Suns at Werribee on Saturday.
