St Bedes/Mentone Tigers downed VAFA powerhouse and finals benchmark Old Xaverians by 34 points in the VAFA Premier Division Preliminary Final on Sunday and in so doing booked a Grand Final berth (their fourth Grand Final in the last 6 years) against hot premiership favourite Collegians at Elsternwick Park next Sunday. Old Xaverians kicked with the aid of the obligatory Elsternwick Park 3-4 goal blustery southerly only to be thwarted by a St Bedes/Mentone Tigers bent on creating a fierce contest and a game worthy of the perennial finalist and premiership winners and the aspiring newcomers. The Tiger threw themselves at every contest and pushed forward hard to kick the first two majors and challenged the star studded Xavs such that the Red and Blacks didn’t score their first major (with the wind) until the 20 minute mark of the quarter but as expected flexed their muscle to ultimately lead the Tigers by a point at the first change. In the critical second quarter, the Tigers were relentless and forced the ball forward from every contest, tackled the ball carrier with passion and then counter attacked with hard-running and slick ball movement – a 3 goal 2 to 3 behinds quarter was indicative of the fierceness of finals football and just reward for effort, for the Tigers a 16 point lead at the long break. Sixteen points was a nice margin but the game was clearly in the balance as Xavs reset and resumed after the break with the aid of the gusting wind only to see the Mentone team come out with exactly the same intent, the same attack on the footy and the same result as they goaled to stretch their lead, saw the Red and Blacks reply and then replied with 2 of their own to extend their half-time margin to 28 points but Xavs haven’t been here so many times before without responding in kind and eventually brought the Tigers’ lead back to the same 16 point margin at the final break – game still ‘on’. St Bedes attacked the last quarter of this sudden death decider with the same fierceness and passion that they had applied for the previous 3 quarters and refused to allow Xavs any space and any run as they tackled fanatically, made every contest a battle of wills and ultimately broke the champs with 3 majors to skip out to 34 point lead at the 19 minute mark. Again the Mentone team’s famed last quarter run and heart were on display as they refused to allow Xavs a major until the game was gone but even then replied with another 2 of their own within 90 seconds, the Tigers were on a mission and they weren’t about to let well-deserved reputations get in their way – this was the first time the Tigers had met the famous Red and Blacks in a final and the result was theirs to the tune of 34 points. •And so it’s down to this, next Sunday in the Grand Final at VAFA Headquarters (Elsternwick Park) St Bedes/Mentone Tigers take on red hot premiership favourites Collegians in a rematch of their 2008 season decider with the vivid recall of being well beaten by the Purples in last week’s 2nd Semi Final – again the last day in September awaits, to the victor the spoils…..