MOUNT PLEASANT v WHITE HILLS - 2.15pm Sunday at Lockington.
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Since 1995: Mount Pleasant 32; White Hills 8..
Last final: 2005 grand final: Mount Pleasant 16.14 (110) d White Hills 12.15 (87).
This year's meetings:
Round 2: Mount Pleasant 11.11 (77) d White Hills 8.17 (65).
Round 11: Mount Pleasant 14.12 (96) d White Hills 10.11 (71).
MOUNT Pleasant ends its six-year absence from the HDFL finals on Sunday when it meets White Hills in the elimination final.
The Blues hold a 2-0 advantage over the Demons this season, although, they head into the game on the back of three losses in a row - all to the top three sides.
White Hills - which has made just its third finals series in the past decade - has battled for consistency this season.
The Demons have been good enough to beat the top two teams in North Bendigo and LBU, but also lost twice to Colbinabbin, which didn’t make the finals.
One of the highlights of Sunday’s clash at Lockington looms as the battle of the big forwards in the Blues’ duo of Kain Robins and Matt Gretgrix and White Hills’ pair Ricky Symes and Jake Ward.
COACHES COMMENTS:
Derrick Filo (Mount Pleasant) - “We were a bit up and down in the first half of the year, but in the second half we have been more consistent.
“We didn’t have a massive turnover of players after last year, but the players we brought in like Kain (Robins), Matt (Gretgrix) and Tim (Hill) changed the structure of the team a fair bit and it took a bit of time to get used to.
“But our work-rate has also increased in the second half of the year and we’ll need to make sure we work hard for four quarters on Sunday.”
Shaun Makepeace (White Hills) - “Our past few games have been a bit like elimination finals given we put ourselves in that vulnerable position.
“Playing Lockington last week has given us a really good insight into the tone and intensity we’re going to need to play at throughout the finals.
“We’ve been inconsistent, which has been frustrating, but we’ll be aiming to bring our best footy through the finals.”
TIPS:
Adam Bourke - Mount Pleasant (18).
Luke West - Mount Pleasant (15).
Nathan Dole - Mount Pleasant (17).
Kristen Alebakis - White Hills (1).
HDFL Harry - White Hills (2).