Form lines:
Footscray emerged victors in a hard fought clash against the Bombers in last week’s elimination final on the back of a nine goal to two run from early in third quarter to midway through the fourth.
The Dogs would hold on to win despite the Bombers kicking three of the last four.
Port Melbourne finished third on the VFL ladder with 12 wins and five losses but lost narrowly to second placed Box Hill in last week’s second qualifying final.
The Borough won their last four games of the home and away season.
Last time they played:
Port Melbourne kicked the last five goals of the game to run away 31 point winners in Round 5 at Fortburn Oval after Footscray led at all the major breaks.
Andrew Tashevski-Beckwith (26 disposals, four tackles) and Jordan Russell (26 disposals and 10 marks) were among the Bulldogs’ best, while Andrew Panayi, Jamieson Shea and Mitch Honeychurch kicked two goals each.
Dylan Conway (Four goals), Jordan Lisle (three goals) and Khan Haretuku (three goals) did the damage for the home team on the scoreboard while Eli Templton (33 disposals) and Robbie Nahas were busy around the ground.
What they said this week:
Steve Grace
“We put a little bit of work into them last week on the Wednesday night but we’ll ease off of them this week, try and freshen them up as much as we can.”
“We’ll be so much better for that run as a unit. You saw how much better we got throughout the day, some cohesion and a little bit of chemistry with the front half connection, and as the game went on we were so much better with that.
“With another block of training as a unit, we should pop again, we can’t wait for this weekend.”
Jordan Russell
“It’s tough, they’re a really good side and we’re never sure who will be playing on the day as opposed to an aligned side where there’s a heap of changes, there’s a core group of blokes who are going to be running out for them.
“It is their home ground and they’re going to have their crowd in to cheer them on, but at the end of the day there’s 18 blokes on the ground and five on the bench, so it should be a really good contest.”
Tickets and match information:
For full broadcast, ticketing and match information click here.
What’s next:
The winner of Sunday’s clash will go to face Williamstown next Sunday, 17 September at 2:40 pm for a spot in the grand final, while the season will end for the loser.
