Top football seed Katamatite faced Katandra in what shaped as a mouth-watering Saturday showdown in the first qualifying final, with both sides making the long haul over the border to Jerilderie.
To be quite frank, though, there was every early indication that this one would not live up to its billing as the Kats set about taking care of business from the start.
A hat-trick of unanswered goals in the opening term was one thing — hardly the kind of sight you have to wait a long time to see, especially with Katandra’s quality — but holding the minor premier goalless for a half, that’s a rare sight.
Thirty-four points at the long break looked just about insurmountable for a no doubt stunned Katamatite outfit with a lot of soul-searching to do in that 20-minute reprieve.
The energy that followed the Tigers out of the sheds dragged this contest back to life, though, as Wade Demasi and Mitch Coleman started to get on the end of some chances.
All told, a six-goal third term was exactly what the doctor ordered as the Katandra onslaught halted on a dime, its buffer cut from more than 30 to five with a half-hour to play.
Five proved the Kats’ magic number, though, as Mitch Black steered through that many majors on the day and was instrumental in capping — with more than one sigh of relief, to be sure — a 9.8 (62) to 7.8 (50) win.
Katandra coach Jason Whittaker was most pleased to knock off the top side, but acknowledged the almighty scare that came alongside that result.
“Finals football is a tough gig and we expected a really tight and solidly contested game,” Whittaker said.
“We were pretty happy with where we were at around half-time, but we knew they’d throw everything at us in the third term, which made for a good contest in the last.
“We didn’t do a lot wrong in that third quarter, but Katamatite finished on top for a reason; we knew they were no mugs.
“At three-quarter time, the directive was just not to panic. We’d gotten ourselves into a really good position and just had to have faith in our process and our teammates.
“We knew they’d be a bit fatigued after everything they brought at us in that quarter and we were able to run out the game okay.”
That the Kats certainly did and the reward is not having to back up and do the same this week.
Katamatite wasn’t so lucky, setting up a date with Tungamah in a knockout semi on Saturday at Picola.
Following those festivities, all eyes would turn to Berrigan on Sunday, where Strathmerton and Waaia also headed north together for the other qualifying final.
The Bombers took a comfortable 19-point gap into the long break and a quick-fire Tim Looby double forced the issue early in what threatened to be a nervy final term.
Ultimately, though, the two-time defending premiers got on with the job and escaped the Bulldogs’ clutches to advance directly to prelim week with an 11.9 (75) to 7.6 (48) win.
On the netball courts, it was a similar hard luck story for Katamatite, forced to rely on the double chance in the A-grade after falling 43-35 to Katunga.
The result means the Swans became the first of four teams to eventually make up the prelims, with the Tigers set for a date with Waaia in Saturday’s semi.
Reigning premiers Deniliquin Rovers flexed their collective muscle in a grand final rematch with Katandra, prevailing 37-26 on Sunday to earn the week off and consign the Kats to the longer route via Strathmerton in the other semi-final.
