Parkside has applied the blowtorch on Wyndhamvale to emerge a surprisingly easy 86-point victor in the Western Region Football League division 2 second semi-final.
The miserly Magpies strangled the life out of the shell-shocked Falcons on Saturday to win 17.19 (121) to 4.11 (35).
More than 100 tackles and 200 pressure acts were recorded by the club’s statistician. That kind of data in a fortnight’s time will have black and white streamers flapping from the premiership cup.
“We pride ourselves on pressure acts and we had 202 as a team as well as 103 tackles for the day,” Magpies coach Nathan Juegan said.
“We really put the pressure on. They kept turning the footy over and we just rebounded.”
While the Magpies were defensively stout, Juegan felt his side’s attacking play was not at its optimum in the first half, despite going into half-time leading by 18 points.
Adjustments made at the long break did the trick, as his side produced an 11-goal barrage in the third quarter.
“Our ball use wasn’t up to a standard that we’d like it to be,’’ Juegan said.
“Before the third quarter, I said to the boys to be more patient with our entries. We went out and had 19 entries and kicked 11 goals’’.
Jason Shaw was best-on-ground for his ability to transition the ball from back to forward with efficiency.
Jordan Garita burrowed in to be the most effective player at the base of the packs.
“He’s a hard inside player,” Juegan said.
“He was enormous with his strength and courage.”
The leaders of the pressure acts were Daniel Thomas (17), Darcy McMahon and Robbie Ryan (13 each).
The Magpies had 10 individual goalkickers with Luke Buttigieg snaring a team-high three.
They will have a week off to recover from the brutal contest, while Wyndhamvale and West Footscray bash each other in the preliminary final for the right to face the Maggies in the big one.
A lot will be spoken about the fact the Magpies have lost four grand finals in a five-year span, but Juegan sees only the positives of making it to the big dance on so many occasions.
“Everyone wants to be critical of Parkside, but every year we front up, present ourselves and put ourselves in the contest,” he said.
“This year, we’ve got a side to win it. The past couple of years I was just proud of the group getting there.
“We’ve got one more box to tick.’’
On Sunday, West Footscray came back from 29 points down at half-time of the first semi-final to beat Glenorden by 12 points.
In division 3, Laverton Magpies bowed out of the finals with a six-point loss to Sanctuary Lakes.
