Nagambie has comprehensively advanced to the Kyabram District League senior football grand final thanks to an early onslaught in the preliminary final at Dookie.
The Lakers dismissed a lacklustre Shepparton East by 31 points on Saturday afternoon to book a ticket into this week’s big dance against reigning premier Lancaster.
Though Shepparton East’s midfield showed fight it was unable to foster a meaningful connection with its forward line, registering the Eagles’ worst half-time score of the season before a gallant showing after the break earned some respectability, as they fell 11.7 (73) to 6.6 (42).
Rielly Old and big man David Comi were among the standout performers, with Trent Laverie working tirelessly off half-back to force contests and gain metres aplenty with ball in hand for Nagambie.
Eagles defenders Jamie Spencer and Thomas Campbell did everything they could to battle the influx of Nagambie forward entries, combining to get in front of opponents or drop into holes as needed for an abundance of intercept marks, while Adam Fichera was up for the fight in wide areas all afternoon.
The Lakers had it on their terms from the outset, with ruckman Comi imposing his will in the middle before earning two majors in open play later on.
The game appeared killed off by the main break, with the Lakers having taken more of the chances they were creating than in the opening term, taking a commanding 31-point advantage into the sheds with the Eagles restricted to 1.3 (9).
“We came here with a job to do and we’re glad we got it done,” Nagambie coach Tyrone Muir said.
“We worked hard, got out to a good early lead and we were able to just grind it out from there.”
Nagambie had done the damage by the time the Eagles’ overall pressure rose in the third term, though they maintained a much tighter general contest.
For the first 10 minutes of the final quarter the ball hardly ever left Shepparton East’s forward half as it littered up repeat forward 50 entries but, again, for little to no reward.
“We thought (Shepparton East) would come out after half-time and put some pressure on, but they were more defensive than we thought they’d be,” Muir said.
“What that meant was we just had to shut down their run on the outside.
“Rielly Old was excellent in there, his work-rate was great.
“Trent Gladwin and Mark Nolan were another couple that played their roles quite well.”
Lancaster will be the Lakers’ final obstacle to a premiership, with the decider taking place at Mooroopna this Saturday afternoon.
Having tasted defeat twice in 2023 against the Wombats in the regular season and a semi-final meeting, Muir’s statement on his side’s upcoming task was simple.
“We’ll go in as underdogs, but we’ll give it to them hard.”