Bacchus Marsh is through to its first Ballarat Football League grand final since 1999 – but the Cobras aren’t satisfied with just making the biggest game of the year.
They have been the competition’s big improvers this season, coming from outside the top six last season to being the first team through to the grand final.
On Saturday, they were clinical in dismissing the Sunbury Lions in the semi-final after an impressive second half against minor premier Lake Wendouree the week before.
Cobras president Adam Sutherland said that while they had exceeded pre-season expectations, they now believed they could go all the way.
“We’re really happy, but not satisfied,” he said. “We know we’ve made the grand final, but we haven’t won anything yet – it’ll be a hollow feeling if we don’t win.
“We’ve played one bad quarter for the year …it’s been a remarkably consistent year.”
On Saturday, the Cobras jumped out of the blocks to leave the Lions shell-shocked.
The Cobras kicked the first seven goals of the game and lead 42-1 before the Lions even looked like kicking a goal.
Having got off to a hot start, the Cobras were able to hold the Lions at bay for the rest of the first half.
When the Lions reduced the margin to 13 points in the third quarter, the Cobras found another level and got the game back on their terms.
Kicking the last four goals of the game, the Cobras won 21.12 (138)-14.6 (90).
While the Lions generally start well, Sutherland said the Cobras thought they could surprise them early on.
“To be honest, I thought we had two hard-fought matches [against minor premier Lake Wendouree] in the lead-up and that we were match hardened, I thought we could catch them off guard.”
Sutherland said the response in the third quarter, when the Lions were coming at them, was just as good the earlier efforts.
Jarrah Maksymow kicked seven goals in a best-on-ground performance, while Damian Cupido kicked five goals.
The jobs done by Logan Blundell and Daniel Burton to shut down the Lions’ two most important players were also vital.
“We had no doubt Burton would do the job for us [on David Kovacevic],” Sutherland said.
“Logan also shaded [Alik] Magin – a couple of 21 to 22-year olds doing the job.”
The Cobras will have the week off before facing the Lions or Lake Wendouree in the grand final.
Sutherland said making the grand final was reward for effort that had been put in over a number of years.
The club’s reserves were knocked out in the semi-final, while its under-18.5s will play in a preliminary final on Saturday.
“There’s been some hard yards and a lot of people put in the work for no reward,” Sutherland said. “If you keep doing the right things – hopefully good things happen.”
