Winners set to book their place

By Mark Gullick
BERWICK hosts Cranbourne in the second semi-final at Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday with the winner booking a spot in next week’s Casey Cardinia Football League grand final.
Berwick’s last defeat was in Round 13 when it was smashed by Cranbourne at Casey Fields by 123 points.
“I think they did us a favour, actually. It turned our season around,” Berwick coach Dean Rice said.
“It highlighted a few deficiencies of ours and since then we’ve got a more structured, balanced and settled team.
“They probably helped us by the way they put us away that day. In the first half of the year, they only beat us by two points and in certain ways, we probably should have won that game.
“But finals are finals, it doesn’t matter where you are or how many wins you’ve had, anyone can win on those days.”
Since then, the Wickers have strung together five wins, including three against fellow finalists – Pakenham (124 points), Hampton Park (95 points) and Narre Warren (51 points).
Berwick has the added boost of playing the final at home, a venue that Cranbourne has recently struggled to deal with.
NARRE WARREN travels to Toomuc Reserve on Sunday to face Pakenham in the first semi-final.
Although Narre had Pakenham’s measure during the home and away season, Magpies coach Chris Toner believes that counts for nothing.
“You have to disregard the results and what happened this year,” he said.
“We have to start again and get our confidence back and start playing the way we know we can play.
“We have to get our hands on the footy first and make sure that the confidence is up and the boys have the right mindset to play.”