Despite the excellent season they’ve had thus far, not even the most optimistic of Spartans fans could’ve predicted how easily their team would clinch a place in the final.
The Hawthorn Spartans annihilated PEGS by a margin of 87 points, making short work of their opponents who were no-one to scoff at, as they themselves had completed the regular season in second place, with just two more losses than the Spartans. Yet the way the two teams played made it look like the difference between them was that of heaven and earth.
The game was played at Rathmine Reserve, due to the fact that the Spartans had finished first in the regular season and maintained the home advantage.
From early on, the home side took control of the competition and even though they didn’t really manage to score a lot of goal kicks, they took the lead into the second.
READ MORE: Hawthorn Spartans complete regular season in style
It got worse from there for the visitors, who tried to put up a good contest and even though they found their way to some goal kicks of their own, they just couldn’t keep the Hawthorn side out of their own goal.
Heading into the third quarter, the Spartans began to wear their opponents down and make use of the depth of their own squad.
This resulted in the margin of their win just getting larger and larger, as it appeared that the Essendon players had all but given up on advancing.
While the date and venue have yet to be specified, the final match of the season is expected to be played on either Saturday 7 or Sunday 8 September, with the Spartans aiming to lift their fifth piece of silverware in the last eight years.
READ MORE: Hawthorn storms past Williamstown
SCORES
1st Quarter: 5 2 32 to 1 1 7
2nd Quarter: 8 5 53 to 3 3 20
3rd Quarter: 11 7 73 to 5 8 38
4th Quarter: 18 17 125 to 5 8 38
Goal kickers: A. Brizzi 3, W. Eagle 3, A. Karim 2, S. Neohoritis 2, N. Criticos 1, M. Dabab 1, J. Farah 1, J. Gaggin 1, D. Korlos 1, A. Mitropoulos 1, C. Pana 1, D. Stratus 1.