Minor premier Wyndhamvale stands between North Footscray and a grand final berth.
The Devils outclassed West Footscray by 23 points in Saturday’s Western Football League division 2 qualifying final at Yarraville Oval, 12.10 (82)-8.11 (59).
The competition’s top-two teams will lock horns in a major semi-final this weekend, with a spot in the decider the prize for the winner.
North Footscray is the only side to knock off the high-flying Falcons in 2025, achieving the feat in round 11 when it prevailed by 22 points.
“We know it’s not going to be easy. Yes, we were the one team who beat them, they might have had an off day, but they’re red-hot favourites for a reason,” Devils coach David Battistella said.
“They’ve lost one game for the year and they’ve had a week off, so I’m assuming they’ll be pretty close to full strength.
“But we believe our best is right up there with them. We know we have to get a good start and we want to be right in the mix early on. It’ll be a tough, hard game again.
“We’re very excited to meet them next week.”
Wyndhamvale had the better of North Footscray in round two, winning by 39 points.
The pair have established themselves as the teams to beat, suffering just three defeats between them in 2025 after Albion, Newport and Sunshine were promoted to division one.
“We’ll probably look at what we did differently in round 11 compared to round two when they got a hold of us and where we maybe improved,” Battistella said
“There’s no doubt you take a bit of confidence from that game against Wyndhamvale … but we also have an understanding that they’re the top side for a reason.”
Battistella said the qualifying final was hard fought despite the fact his side led at each break.
He said the Devils had control in the first half but failed to take advantage, before the Roosters kicked 1.6 to 0.3 in the last term as they threatened to launch a fightback.
“Even if you win, we talk a lot about where we can get better and improve on, where our deficiencies are,” Battistella said.
“I thought it was a real pleasing game. It was close all day, it was tough, hard, and it was a real finals game. Both us and West are evenly matched. There’s not a lot separating us.”
Sharpshooter Matt Searfin bagged five first-half goals in an outstanding performance for the winners, the haul taking his season tally to 87 majors from 16 games.
“His second half was still good. He just became a bit proppy on an ankle, but he’s a pretty tough character, Matty. He wasn’t keen to come off and still believed he could play a role,” Battistella said.
“He probably had three or four more shots in the second half, so he realistically could have walked away with seven or eight goals.”
Battistella also singled out best afield Barnaby Sianos, Brody Vorano and Jackson Ryan for praise.
West Footscray will next face Suns in a sudden-death semi-final.
