SWAN Hill have set up a preliminary final showdown with Tooleybuc Mananagtang after a dominant third quarter helped them cruise past Nyah Nyah West United.
The Demons were able to hang on for the first half and stay within striking distance, but missed chances saw them fall too far behind five minutes into the third quarter.
Their fairytale run ended just a week after stunning Tyntynder for a spot in the second week of the finals.
Swan Hill muscled up throughout the entirety of the match, putting pressure on the Demons across the entire court.
Swans coach Madeline Nalder said her side had to focus for much of the mach to edge their opponents out.
“Nyah get on song, they are really damaging, so we had to work on shutting their flow down,” she said.
“Our defensive pressure was good, we had to create opportunities for ourselves which is what we did.”
Going into the finals, the Demons were written off by most before upsetting Tyntynder, and after the match coach Carly-Marie Clark felt like her side could have played their grand final early.
“We are disappointed, we didn’t follow what we set out to achieve game plan wise, but we will build on it for next year,” she said.
“They gave us a lot of space and we didn’t take advantage, pretty disappointing, Swan Hill know what to do when it comes to finals, that is for sure.”
Swan Hill started strongly from the first whistle, settling into the game earlier than the Demons.
This allowed them to jump 11-06 ahead with five minutes in the first term to go.
It was then Clark and her side awoke from their early match form slumber, and kicked into gear.
With some crucial stops and smart play, Sndyer and Burge were able to work their magic after being kept quiet early by Imogen Foott and Christine Ewart. The quarter time score read 12-7 to the Swans.
Nyah Nyah West United will be ruing their second quarter after too many missed chances allowed the Swans to maintain a 23-19 lead.
Clark was on fire for the Demons as she made life hell for the Swans attackers, but the midcourt broke down at crucial stages.
The Demons went on a four-to-none goal streak, with smart play down the right side of the court from wing Janene Thompson, to Teina Lusty who fed well to Snyder and Mikayla Burge to make the shots count.
Centre Andrews chimed in when needed and the Demons fought hard.
Long passes were easily picked off by a quick Swans midcourt, led by centre O’Sullivan, as both sides pushed hard.
As the quarter crept on, the Demons just held on, staying within touch.
The Demons had a chance to really take it to Swan Hill in the third quarter but the pressure of the occasion appeared to be too much.
Swan Hill started with the ball and goaled early, before putting on a shooting clinic.
Goalies Emily Patterson and Ingrid Condely had their radars on, and with good ball movement into the goal circle from wing attack Kelsey McCoy made it all too easy.
Demons coach and goal keeper Carly-Marie Clark kept trying, but the attack was too good.
A huge landslide of six-goals-in-a-row all but ended Nyah Nyah West United’s day, as the three quarter time score read 42-28.
Too many hopeful long passes were easy pickings for the Swan Hill defenders, as a frustrated Demons side headed to the sheds with a lot to think about ahead of the fourth quarter.
The final term started as a back and forth tussle, but Swan Hill’s lead was too great.
The Demons did their best, at one point threatening to come back at the Swans with some quick goals, but their consistency was just not good enough.
The Swans had to turn their centre passes into goals, which is what they did effectively.
