A late Footscray Bulldogs comeback fell short in a Victorian Football League preliminary final on Saturday.
Hoping to join Werribee and make it an all western suburbs grand final, the Bulldogs hosted Southport on Saturday afternoon in difficult conditions.
There were four seasons in one as the Bulldogs fell just short, 9.7 (61)-7.9 (51).
The Sharks led at quarter time by 10 points but it could have been more had they made the most of their opportunities
The margin was reduced to a goal as the Bulldogs finally got some majors on the board.
It’s called the premiership quarter for a reason and the Sharks made the most of it in the third quarter.
Five goals straight blew the margin out to 30 points at the last break.
The Bulldogs came hard and got the margin back to 10 points as nearly 14 minutes were gone in the final quarter.
From there Southport would lock it up to come away with the win.
Lachlan McNeil and Charlie Clarke kicked two goals each for the Bulldogs.
Joel Freijah, who kicked one of the last quarter goals, finished with 27 disposals with Jason Johannisen finishing with 26.
The preliminary final was one game further than last season when they were knocked out in the semi finals.
Southport will now play Werribee on Sunday at IKON Park in the grand final. The Tigers beat the Brisbane Lions in the other preliminary final, kicking the final three goals of the game to seal the win.
