MOUNT Pleasant will hit next weekend's HDFNL preliminary final riding a wave of momentum, while a Lockington-Bamawm United season that had promised plenty was shot to bits in just 30 minutes on Sunday.30 minutes - that's all it took for Mount Pleasant to take a stranglehold of the first semi-final at North Bendigo and establish a lead in which there would be no coming back from for the Cats. It was season-on-the line stakes and Mount Pleasant played accordingly in the first quarter; the Cats were sorely lacking and as a result have to now stew on a straight sets finals exit. The Blues' exceptional start paved the way for their 15.12 (102) to 11.13 (79) win. While the final margin finished at 23 points, what's more reflective of the contest was the fact that the Blues led by as many as 52 points before the Cats kicked the last four goals in junk time. The Blues set the tone with a dynamic first quarter in the wet that - just like their third term against White Hills the previous week - again showed that when they are on they are one hell of a force to be reckoned with. The Blues obliterated the Cats out of the middle and looked dangerous every time they went forward, with the LBU defence having no answer.
By quarter-time the red-hot Blues had scored 13 times to three and were 40 points up, 7.6 to 1.2. It was scintillating, tough football from the Blues that was capped off by three goals from Ben Weightman, two to Cody Green and one each to Zebb Murrell and Luke Marchesi (kicked in the opening 20 seconds). And given the heavy rain, the Blues' 40-point buffer was worth a bit extra. With the Blues also kicking the first two goals of the second term through Weightman and Murrell, courtesy of a 50m penalty, Mount Pleasant's lead was out to 52 points, 61-9. The Cats did offer some resistance with a 10-minute patch in the second quarter when they kicked three goals in a row, including two to Zeik Johnston, but were 39 point in arrears at half-time.
Such was the dominance of the Blues, the only time the game looked like becoming a genuine contest was when the Cats kicked another three goals in a row during the third term - the third from Pat Gardiner cutting the margin to 21 points at the 24-minute mark. But a steadier from a Green set-shot for the Blues sucked some of the momentum from the Cats, who trailed by 29 points at the last change. It could have been a 23-point margin, but a set-shot after the siren from Thomas Leech just landed short in the goalsquare. When Marchesi and Weightman kicked the first two goals of the final term there was no coming back for the Cats, while the Blues could then set their sights on a preliminary final clash with North Bendigo. "We came with confidence today because momentum is everything in finals and we got some last week," Blues coach Darren Walsh said.
"The boys are back to playing the brand we were earlier in the season, but they've stepped it up a notch." The Blues' best players featured Weightman (six goals, including five in the first half), ruckman Mitch Bennett, Nick Edwards, who ran with Cats' star Jarod Bacon, tough on-baller Billy Mahony, defender Fraser Cole, who had the job on Lachlan Collins (two goals), and midfielder Nick Butler. For Cats coach Kahl Oliver, his team's finals capitulation - barely giving a yelp on Sunday when it mattered and blowing a 33-point lead against Colbinabbin in the qualifying final last week - is a bitter pill to swallow. "We just didn't rise to finals type footy and we're absolutely gutted with the result," Oliver said. "I think we've lost a fair bit of respect from this; we're now going to be talked about for the next six months as the team that's bowed out in straight sets, which we've got to cop on the chin." Defender Joss Howlett, key forward Pat Gardiner (three goals) and class midfielder Johnston (three goals) were the Cats' best.