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BIRCHIP-Watchem held Charlton goal-less in the second half of Saturday's North Central league preliminary final to set up its third-consecutive shot at the flag.
The Navies narrowly led 3.4 to 3.2 at half-time on a windy day at Boort.
However, the Bulls - who have lost the past two grand finals - kicked 5.2 to 0.7 in the second half to win 8.4 (52) to 3.11 (29) and set up a showdown next Saturday against Sea Lake Nandaly at Boort.
"They were challenging conditions... when you're playing in a strong breeze like we were it brings the game standard down a bit, evens things up and makes it more contested," Bulls coach Lochlan Sirett said.
"Then when you mix that with a final it's going to be a tight tussle and it was."
The Bulls - whose best were led by Joseph Reid, Dale Hinkley and Jacob Christie - broke the game open with three late goals in the third quarter.
Facing a 14-point deficit at three quarter-time, the Navies suffered a huge blow early in the final term when coach Kain Robins was reported and yellow-carded for an incident he has indicated he will contest at the tribunal.
The Navies will lament one that got away given they had two more scoring shots than the Bulls, but paid a hefty price of their season ending with their inaccuracy.
"A few of those misses were close-range shots that we should have kicked and could have changed the game," said Robins, who will continue as coach next year.
"It's disappointing to fall short of next week, but we feel we're on the build and not that far off."
Veteran Aaron Walklate was Charlton's best player.
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