Mount Pleasant will play Heathcote in the HDFNL grand final after the Blues survived a gruelling preliminary final battle with White Hills on Saturday.
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Against the odds, the Blues upstaged the Demons by four points - 10.9 (69) to 8.17 (65) - to advance to their second-straight grand final.
"To finish fourth on the ladder and keep rolling through to make the grand final is huge. I was bloody proud of the boys today,'' Mounts' co-coach Adam Baird said.
"We're the walking wounded at the moment, but the boys have a never say die attitude. For such a young group, it's fantastic to see.
"The boys enjoyed being the underdog and they showed great fight today. It's a credit to them."
![Mt Pleasant co-coach Adam Baird led his side to victory with a best on ground performance on Saturday. Mt Pleasant co-coach Adam Baird led his side to victory with a best on ground performance on Saturday.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/shjDWP57NvFsN4SYJTNkJk/05814d3a-16b7-4657-90b8-45fbb61cedc5.jpg/r0_33_4928_3285_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mounts had the better of the opening quarter and led by 11 points at the first break.
The second term proved to be match-defining.
White Hills dominated play and had 10 scoring shots to Mounts' two.
The Demons should have taken at least a three-goal lead into the main break, but instead they led by just seven points.
![White Hills' co-coach Jack Fallon. White Hills' co-coach Jack Fallon.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/shjDWP57NvFsN4SYJTNkJk/0328813b-afef-4362-81af-b82f9d0db401.jpg/r1003_0_2637_1416_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Again in the third quarter the Demons had the better of general play, but the plucky Blues continued to find a way to stay in touch.
Mounts actually outscored the Demons 3.2 to 2.3 for the quarter and White Hills' lead was just two points at three quarter-time.
The outcome of the game would come down to the team that won the key moments in the final quarter and it was Mounts who delivered.
Key forward Mitch Bennett kicked two crucial final quarter goals from set shots and their defence stood firm under immense pressure.
![Bryce Hinneberg was one of Mounts' best players in the preliminary final. Bryce Hinneberg was one of Mounts' best players in the preliminary final.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/shjDWP57NvFsN4SYJTNkJk/e5672224-06a4-4701-9adf-5096f8416f5c.JPG/r1324_544_4083_3674_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
With Mounts leading by four points late in the game, defender Fletcher White made a desperate late dive to spoil White Hills' forward Kaiden Antonowicz's attempt to mark.
The ball spilled over the boundary line and Mounts held on to keep their flag dream alive.
While the Blues celebrated a memorable finals triumph, for the second week in a row the Demons were left to lament poor finishing in front of goal.
After kicking a wasteful 8.15 in a narrow second semi-final defeat to Heathcote the week before, the Demons again failed to capitalise on their forward 50 entries.
The combined 16.32 in the second semi-final and preliminary final will haunt the Demons this summer.
"We let the game slip,'' a dejected White Hills' coach Jack Fallon said.
"We couldn't capitalise. A couple of free kicks in front of goal didn't go our way, but you can't control that.
"We've got the talent. If you look at our list, we've got one of the best in the league, but as a team we couldn't get it done. It's very disappointing."
Baird, Chris Down, Bennett and Bryce Hinneberg were best for Mounts.
White Hills' best were Eli Pearce, Patrick Eefting, Ryan Walker and Nicholas Warnock.
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