Tara Murray
The Suns have nothing to lose come finals after locking in their spot in the final round of the Western Football League division 2 season on Saturday.
With four teams having a mathematical chance of claiming one of the final two finals spots, the Suns needed to beat Albanvale to ensure their spot.
The Suns led by seven points at quarter time before taking control of the game. They kicked nine goals to two after the first quarter to come away with a 13.10 (88)-.7 (37) win.
The result locked in a fifth place finish for the Suns. The Suns will now face Newport in an elimination final on Sunday.
Suns coach Dean Cachia said while they would have liked to have locked the spot in earlier, the side had shown a lot of resilience.
“The last two weeks the results have gone our way,” he said. “We’ve achieved what we wanted to this year and that was make finals.
“It’s s a fresh start now and we are underdogs and face Newport and have nothing to lose.”
Cachia said after getting the ascendency in the game they were able to take control. It became a bit of a stalemate late in the game, as the Cobras did what they needed to do to ensure they also played finals.
“They put a player behind the ball,” he said. “I don’t blame them and they are playing finals as well.”
Daniel O’Leary and Kyle De Rose were named the Suns best.
Having been the team to beat the past two years in division 3, the Suns go into finals this year with nothing to lose.
Cachia said this season is a success no matter what the results are come finals.
“It has been a bit of turbulent year, been a bit up and down,” he said. “We’ve had lots of injuries and our depth is tested.
“We’ve played our best footy the last two weeks. Last time we played Newport they won by four goals. We’ll put a plan in place.”
Elsewhere, Wyndhamvale tuned up for finals with a 27.23 (185)-6.7 (43) win against the Western Rams.
Daniel Burns, Matthew Paul and Jack Tessari kicked four goals each as eight players kicked multiple goals.
Wyndhamvale, which finished percentage off second, will face Albanvale in the other elimination final.
Tarneit’s season ended with a 23.21 (159)-5.5 (35) loss to North Footscray.
Zach Thornton and Liam Meyrich were named the Titans best.
The Titans finish the season in 12th spot with three wins.
Meanwhile in division 1, Hoppers Crossing managed to lock in its finals spot without playing a game on Saturday.
The Warriors had the bye and were sitting in the top five before the matches. If results fell their way, they would lock in a top five spot.
Werribee Districts ensured that was the case with a 16.15 (111)-12.4 (76) win against Spotswood.
The result means the Warriors sit in fifth spot, six points clear of the Woodsmen heading into the final round.
In other results on Saturday, both Point Cook and Point Cook Centrals suffered losses.
In the final round, Werribee Districts will face Caroline Springs for top spot.
