LAHARUM is through to a second successive grand final after comprehensively outplaying Kalkee in the Horsham District league second semi-final at Natimuk on Saturday.
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On a hot day and a big ground the Mountain Men were too clean and quick at ground level for the Kees and ran away to a 19.14 (128) to 9.9 (63) victory.
Laharum had plenty of winners on the day, but key forward Dylan Parish shone brightest with six goals.
A tight, low-scoring first quarter belied the Laharum scoring binge that was to follow.
While both teams boast high-powered forward lines, it was the defences that held sway in the opening minutes.
Josh Beddison and Josh Mibus were effective on opponents Dylan Parish and Rhys Bennett early on.
At the other end of the ground Brett Ervin did well to restrict Adam Carter.
Brendan McDonald won plenty of the ball in the middle for Kalkee, while Hamish Roberts was effective on the wing for Laharum.
When the game finally started to open up it was Laharum with the early chances.
Parish missed an easy set shot after a set up from Robbie Miller, but atoned minutes later with his first for the afternoon.
Liam French kicked a good goal after a strong mark, but Laharum answered straight back through Parish just before the quarter time siren.
Laharum only had a four-point lead at the first change, but came out with renewed attack in the second term.
An off-the-ball yellow card to Kalkee's Paul Christian seemed to spark the Mountain Men into action.
They took the resulting free kick from half-back and goaled immediately, followed quickly by another.
Dylan Parish and Jack Shields seemed to be having their own personal shootout in the Laharum forward line.
Shields kicked three in the term and Parish added two more to his quarter time tally to blow the game wide open for the Mountain Men.
When Kalkee did get the ball down its end, the Laharum defenders were able to create a contest and bring the ball away after it hit the ground.
Brett Ervin, Brenton Askew and Alex Ellifson helped nullify Carter and French for much of the term and coach Shannon Argall was able to push deep into defence and take saving marks on the goal line.
Big-bodied midfielder Zack Price was influential for Laharum and despite the continued efforts of players like McDonald and Steve Schultz, the Mountain Men controlled that part of the ground.
It was more of the same to start the second half, with Sam Winfield streaming forward out of the midfield twice but failing to register a major score.
The Mountain Men's foward versatility was on full display as Jason Przibilla rotated through the forward line and immediately started dominating.
He made a brilliant ground-level gather in the pocked and snapped a goal, then handed one off to Angus Martin after marking only 10 metres out.
Josh Beddison and Jordan Johns had been good all day in defence for the Kees, but could not stop the ball streaming forward.
Kalkee briefly had the momentum when Ollie Young stole a kick-out after a behind to give the team back-to-back goals for the first time all day, but Przibilla ended hopes of a comeback when he outmarked Beddison and played on into an open goal.
There was no real venom in the last quarter as both teams looked as if they were waiting for the game to finish.
Daniel Griffiths' big mark on the wing was a highlight, and led to an easy goal for Angus Martin.
Carter kicked a couple of belated goals for the Kees but it was too little, too late.
Josh Beddison came from the ground with a hamstring injury in the last quarter, a worrying sign for the Kees.
Laharum coach Shannon Argall, one of the team's best on the day, said every player had executed the team plan perfectly.
"We looked at Kalkee last week and formulated the way we wanted to move the ball to expose them," he said.
"People think our backline is our Achilles heel, but they really work for each other and brings the ball to ground most times.
"To be honest there's no room in the forward line for me anymore, and it's good to be able to help out of the backline and give them a bit of composure and confidence and let the forwards do their thing."
By comparison Kalkee coach Trevor O'Brien said his team had not played cohesively at all.
"I thought we were all pretty selfish - I wasn't very impressed," he said.
"We're a mile away from playing them again in the grand final.
"Our backline did well with the amount of ball that came in there, but you've still got to be prepared to stand by your man because Dylan Parish doesn't need that many opportunities - he's an absolute star."
Kalkee will face the winner of Sunday's first semi-final between Swifts and Edenhope-Apsley in the preliminary final.
