The Under 17 Rutherglen Cats have secured a spot in the Tallangatta League Grand Final after a dominant 60-point victory over Yackandandah.
The Cats came up against the improving Yackandandah who had accounted for Chiltern and Thurgoona in the previous two weeks.
Both teams went in with some defensive setups with Luke Nicholson carrying a heavy tag for the day while the Cats set Jaydon Baldwin the task on the Yack prime ball getter in Xavier Lane.
The first quarter was tight with both teams trying to gain the upper hand. The Cats appeared to be on top however the tackling pressure of Yack was strong and prevented the Cats from opening the game up with their fast outside runners.
Defensively the Cats were on top as the externally underrated Eli Keys was his usual miserly self, refusing to give an inch.
Eli and Fred Jackson thwarted the Yack attacks on the last line time and time again.
The Cats were able to take a quarter time lead of seven points thanks to running left foot bomb from Rory Beattie, frustratingly some of the Cats prime movers were a little down.
The second term had the Cats gradually take some advantage as Judd Kuschert up forward and pinch hitting in the midfield along with the fast-paced Jaydon Baldwin on ball exert their authority.
Yack held in the contest with a couple of goals however the Cats forwards started to find space with big Angus Williams dominating at centre half forward and clearing a path for the smaller Cats. The half time lead had grown to seventeen points.
The third had the Cats start to show their dominance as midfielders Luke Nicholson and Charlie James started to get on top.
Luke was shaking the tag as his aerial ability became difficult to control, defensively the Cats were totally in control with Tom Ford, Lenny Hill and Charlie Beattie providing plenty of run from the defensive half.
Judd Kuschert had plenty of supply up forward and was hitting the scoreboard regularly. A thirty-five-point lead at three quarter time had the game well in control.
The last was totally one way traffic as the Cats took total control, the back six were impregnable and continued to attack with Tom Ford managing a goal, while Mitch Francis sneaked forward to register his first goal in the u17s.
Judd finished with six of his own. At the final siren, the lead had blown out to a ten-goal victory.
Cats are into the Grand Final, a wonderful reward for their efforts.
Amongst the group they had four lads make their senior debuts during the year, three with multiple games, another five sampled reserves football with one lad coming third in the reserves B&F from minimal games.
To win the Cats will need to be at their best, and their best is good enough.
