Donald gained a psychological edge over potential first semi-final opponent Nullawil with a confidence boosting 11-point win on Saturday.
The win gives Donald a four-point buffer over Nullawil in third spot on the North Central ladder with two rounds to play, with both sides expected to meet again in the knockout final.
The home side held on in a dour second half, where just three goals were kicked between the two teams, to record a 10.8 (68) to 8.9 (57) win.
“We’ll play them (Nullawil) in three weeks’ time most likely, so to get the win will give us a great deal of confidence,” Donald senior coach Rohan Brown said.
“It was a finals like game in terms of its intensity and the attack of both teams on the ball.
“There were a couple of really hard contests and our boys really had to knuckle down, it didn’t look pretty at stages from both teams, but outside of that, when either side had control of the ball it was good footy to watch.”
Brown said he was happy his players were able to “grit their teeth” and grind out the win.
“It felt like the clearances and stoppages were pretty even and so were the inside 50’s, it was just an even contest,” he said.
“Neither team really got on top through the midfield at any stage, it was just a real arm wrestle for much of the day.”
In a tight last quarter, it took a bit of Dyson Bell-Warren magic from half back to put the result beyond doubt, as he found full-forward Sam Dunstan inside 50 for his fourth goal.
Bell-Warren was sensational for Donald, as were veteran Ross Young, Josh Potter and Jesse Wallin.
Also standing up for the Royal Blues were three of their talented youngsters, with Ryan Bath playing potentially his best senior game on the wing, while Hayden Geddes in the midfield was also influential.
Noah Berry was tasked with the job of manning Nullawil skipper Jordan Humphreys, keeping him to three goals before he was switched into defence.
David Isbister continued his strong recent form and was the best for the Maroons, while Patrick Kelly, Jonathan Casey and Dean Smith were also strong contributors.
The news wasn’t all good for Donald however, with Rory O’Shannessy suffering a knee injury, while Rian McGough injured his hamstring for the third time this season, placing his finals campaign in doubt.
Wycheproof-Narraport looks set to miss the finals after the fifth placed Demons were humbled by ladder leaders Sea Lake Nandaly by 152 points on Saturday.
Josh Jenkins led the way up forward with seven goals in the 24.25 (169) to 2.5 (17) result, with John Summerhayes also booting five goals for the Tigers.
Sea Lake Nandaly’s likely second semi final opponent Birchip-Watchem made it five wins on the trot with a 95-point win over Boort.
The Bulls booted eight goals to one in the first half to open up a 55-point lead at the main break, and cruised home to a 19.20 (134) to 6.3 (39) victory.
Ben Edwards kicked 11 goals to move within six goals of league leading goalkicker Dunstan, while both Nick and Marshall Rippon were also among the Bulls better players.
In the other match played, Sam Barnes kicked 10 goals in Wedderburn’s thumping 27.26 (188) to 4.3 (27) win over St Arnaud.
