By Tyler Lewis
One of Rowville or Noble Park will play in the Eastern Football League (EFL) Premier Division grand final.
By securing the top two finish, the winner of the first semi final – between the Hawks and Bulls – will propel into the big dance.
The Hawks cemented their position inside the top two a fortnight ago, the minor premiership a week ago and on Saturday, Rowville claimed bragging rights over potential finals opponent Balwyn, 8.14 (62) to 4.14 (38).
Mav Taylor booted seven Rowville’s eight goals in the Hawks 16th win of the home and away season.
Cooper MacDonald, Kane Young, Anthony Brolic, Tyler Edwards and Lachlan Stapleton were also named among the Hawks’ best.
Noble Park, meanwhile, only needed to collect the four points over Doncaster to register as the second seed, but did so in imperious fashion.
The Bulls put through 27 goals as they thumped Doncaster to the tune of 132 points.
Jordan Marson and Jack Francis kicked four, while Shayne Allan, Jack Beech, Kieren Byers and Harley Fairbank booted three.
Kyle Martin, Tom Glen and Chris Horton-Milne were among the Bulls’ best.
The Hawks and the Bulls will enjoy the week off, before facing off at Bayswater Oval for a place in the grand final.
In other matches across Eastern Division:
South Croydon surged into third position on the ladder, with a 10.10 (70) to 6.11 (47) win over Norwood.
Doncaster East will enter finals series with three successive defeats, after going down 8.13 (61) to 10.16 (76) at the hands of Park Orchards.
Blackburn secured victory over Vermont 12.10 (82) to 10.8 (68) and Berwick finished its season on a high with a resounding 9.4 (64) to 1.8 (14) triumph over North Ringwood.
LADDER
EFL PREMIER DIVISION LADDER
TEAM W L % Pts
Rowville 16 2 143.11 64
Noble Park 14 4 158.27 56
South Croydon 13 5 140.19 52
Balwyn 13 5 138.62 52
Doncaster East 11 6 130.53 46
Blackburn 9 8 93.39 38
Norwood 7 10 100.08 30
Park Orchards 6 12 91.89 24
Vermont 6 12 81.53 24
Doncaster 5 13 58.13 20
Berwick 4 13 68.99 18
North Ringwood 2 16 49.72 8
FINALS BRACKET
WEEK 1
Elimination Final 1 – Saturday 27 August @ Bayswater Oval
South Croydon v Blackburn
Elimination Final 2 – Sunday 28 August @ Central Reserve
Balwyn v Doncaster East
WEEK 2
Semi Final 1 – Saturday September 3 @ Bayswater Oval
Rowville v Noble Park
Semi Final 2 – Sunday September 4 @ Central Reserve
Winner of Elimination Final 1 v Winner of Elimination Final 2
WEEK 3
Preliminary Final 1 – Saturday September 10 @ Bayswater Oval
Loser of Semi Final 1 v Winner of Semi Final 2
WEEK 4
Grand Final – Saturday September 17 @ Bayswater Oval
Winner of Semi Final 1 v Winner of Preliminary Final 1
