HILLSIDE v ABERFELDIE
Saturday 1:50pm at Lakeside Reserve
Hillside and Aberfeldie will face off for the second spot in the decider in the Airport Toyota Women's Premier Division preliminary final at Lakeside Reserve.
The Sharks enter the clash following a 32-point loss in the qualifying final to Oak Park, a contest they were chasing in from the start.
Hillside were slow to get going with coach Blaise Ferraro telling Star Weekly it wasn't overly unexpected.
"We didn’t come out to play,” he said. “We’ve been a little bit flat for a couple of weeks and there was a little bit of inexperience there.
“A lot of girls were having their first crack at it. Everyone was a little bit fumbling.
“They were good and we were a little bit off.”
They'll meet an Aberfeldie side – who handed the Sharks their only previous defeat – firing off an elimination final victory.
Abers were challenged in the first half by Essendon Doutta Stars who led by a point at half time, before kicking four unanswered goals in the third term to break the game open.
Hillside had separated itself as the favourite through dominant displays against every side, but had recently started to wane with that loss to Abers and last week's comfortable defeat.
Abers, meanwhile, have won nine of their last 10 after starting the year 2-2.
For Ferarro, he's confident the finals experience as well as the previous loss to Abers will serve his side well.
League leading goal kicker Caitlin Sargent will again be a key focus for Aberfeldie after being held goalless in their last meeting.
Sargent has scored 38 per cent of their goals this season, so the Sharks will be turning to others to impact the scoreboard if Sargent can't get off the chain.
Up the other end, Erica Markesich is fresh off a four-goal outing and is a key threat in the Abers forward half alongside Emily Smith and Maddison Wilczynski.
With last week an outlier, Hillside hasn't conceded any more than four goals in a game and will be hoping to keep the Abers forwards quiet.
Can Abers keep Sargent quiet again? Will others step for Hillside if so?
Those are questions we'll find out when out grand final matchup is finalised.
Hillside are looking for a first grand final berth, while Aberfeldie want revenge on Oak Park.
