Tara Murray
Sunshine produced one its most clinical performances of the Western Football League season to win through to the division 2 grand final.
The Kangaroos were dominant from start to finish against Newport in Saturday’s preliminary final.
There wasn’t much last time the two teams played in the final game of the regular season, but there would be no repeat this time.
The Kangaroos kicked the only five goals of the first quarter and continued the onslaught in the second quarter to lead by 73 points at half time.
With the game all but over, the Kangaroo kept piling on the goals to come away with a 21.14 (140)-3.8 (26) win.
Kangaroos coach Guy Barbuto said it was a good win by the group.
“We’re very happy,” he said. “Anything is possible with this group but I probably didn’t expect a scoreline to this extent.”
Barbuto said they were able to get their game going early and got the spread going, making it hard for the Panthers to shut them down.
He said getting their run going was the main thing and they were able to keep it going all game.
“The boys were very clinical with how they went about it,” he said. “We spoke about it during the week and they executed it to a tee.”
Barbuto said while it was one of their best performances of the season, it matters little if they can’t deliver in the grand final.
Mathew Medcraft kicked four goals for the Kangaroos, while Nathan Carroll, Mark Mazzeo and Daniel Torcia kicked three goals.
Carroll, the competition’s leading goalkicker, missed their semi final loss to Albion.
“Structurally it’s really good with three talls down there,” Barbuto said of the return of Carroll. “It makes it hard to defend against.
“It took a while for him to get into the game, when he got into the game his hands were fantastic.
“We don’t need him to be kicking big bags, we need him to be doing his part.”
Barbuto said everyone had a role and were able to complete it to a tee.
He highlighted captain Patrick O’Keefe, Kurtis Barnard down back, Matt Cravino in the middle, Taygen Dennison up forward and Charly Williams on the wing as some of their standouts.
The win means the Kangaroos will have their seniors, reserves and under-18s in grand finals this Saturday.
Barbuto said it would be a big week at the club.
“We’re back here at the moment and it’s a full house,” he said on Saturday night. “We’re looking forward to the week to come.
“It has been an awesome effort by everyone involved.”
The Kangaroos will face Albion in the senior grand final at Pennell Reserve on Saturday.
The Cats, who are undefeated, are the only team the Kangaroos are yet to beat this season.
“We believe, we know we can do it and the boys are ready to execute what we have in plan.”
Meanwhile in division 1, Werribee Districts is the first team through to the grand final.
The Tigers needed extra time to overcome Caroline Springs, 9.8 (62)-8.7 (55).
The Lakers will face Hoppers Crossing in the preliminary final after the Warriors beat Yarraville Seddon in the other semi final.
