By JACOB MANZIE
TWO powerhouses of the Essendon Ford Division 1 competition will play off for a shot at the cup.
For Airport West, a few weeks ago it really didn’t look like they were even going to make finals, losing their fourth position to Taylors Lakes and finding themselves in the fifth spot for five rounds in a row, as they lost back-to-back games that they should have won.
However, in Round 18, when their season was on the line, they managed to knock off Hillside by 30 points in a huge upset away from home, putting them back in the mix.
Now, the Eagles have outdone even themselves, now in a Preliminary Final against Hillside.
After losing the Round 18 clash, Hillside will be much more prepared and will have gone over exactly what Airport West is going to bring come game day, and how they will counter it.
The Sharks will be ready to bounce back after their disappointing loss to Glenroy last weekend and will want to make amends for what was out of the ordinary, you could say, for a team that has been exceptional for a lot of the year.
Last time these two teams played Airport West won the first quarter only to keep the ball rolling for the last three.
They stayed in control of the pill and did not let the Sharks get any easy ball.
It was an arm wrestle for both sides that eventually blew out in the third quarter as the Eagles kicked four goals to two to run away with it.
Lachlan Di Sebastiano will be someone the Sharks will watch carefully, as he ran ragged for four quarters and was the Eagles’ best-on the day.
Tyson Young up forward is going to be a major focus as well.
Airport West will be keeping tabs on Tom Drake, who has had a fantastic season and played well against the Sharks throughout the season, and defenders will have to lock down tight on Brandon Coletta.
He is fourth in the goal kicking for the 2017 season and has been dominant up forward as well as around the ground.
A win for either side would be huge of course, putting them straight into the big dance, however, Hillside will most likely be favourite, seeing as they finished second on the ladder.
An upset win here for Airport West will see them go from fifth in Round 18 to the Grand Final with no double chance.
This is a game that cannot be missed.
