Kolora-Noorat upsets Panmure by 16 points, advances to WDFNL preliminary final against Merrivale

Emotions were high as the Power held off Panmure to secure a preliminary final showdown against Merrivale, showing true grit and determination to win a thrilling Warrnambool and District league encounter at Allansford Recreation Reserve, 14.11 (95) to 12.7 (79).

Power coach Nick Bourke, who made a strong return from a shoulder injury, said it was a win fuelled by utter belief and desperation at the contest.

"In finals, you can put in all the plans and match-ups you want but unless you bring the four-quarter effort and hunger, it goes out the window pretty quick," he told The Standard.

"That was a heated game, played at a high intensity and we were able to play well and we managed to get on top of the game late. A super win, you can really see the belief amongst this group.

"The kids had some massive moments, as did our senior players. I'm super proud."

The Power mentor said he could feel the intensity and energy in his playing group and believed the team had another gear to go to.

"They're (Panmure) a quality side who've got some quality ball users who like to get on the outside so it was a high-intensity game, and I felt like we were able to absorb that and lift ourselves," he said.

"I felt like it was a well-spread performance. It's a great win, we've put in the hard yards all year to get to this point but we're not done yet.

"Hopefully we're building something special. We deserved to finish where we did (in the home-and-away season), but we've focused on getting players back like Lucas Boyd, Ben Moloney who we've managed throughout the year to full fitness.

"We feel we're peaking at the right time, but we know Merrivale is going to be tough and they're the benchmark but we're excited to give it a red-hot crack."

The hunger was evident from the outset. The Power, also playing with flair and freedom through their youth and a hard-nosed edged with their experienced heads dug in and managed to have an answer to every challenge.

Despite trailing at three-quarter-time and looking like potentially being overrun, a pair of clutch goals from Declan Barbary and Lucas Boyd wrestled back the momentum.

From there, it was a matter of slowing down the play, holding onto possession and controlling the tempo until the final siren.

Bourke said experienced duo Ben and Joel Moloney were immense for his side, while spearhead Lucas Boyd slotted four. Darcy Vick was a livewire, also kicking four while youngster Fred Beasley ran hard all day.

"We do have a lot of great kids who create so much spark for us but in finals, guys like Ben and Joel Moloney, Lucas Boyd, Sam Uwland, we're lucky to have that experience, they've played some pretty high level footy," he said.

"In the final quarter they were able to stand up, Ben and Joel in particular around the contest. The leadership they've provided me all year has been awesome."

Panmure coach Chris Bant said the Power were cleaner with their entries going forward and used the ground to their advantage.

"They were a bit cleaner than us, their ball use was better than ours and we probably felt like we had to work harder for our goals and make something out of nothing," he said.

"They are a bit younger than us in a sense and on a nice day like that, where the ball is bouncing around, they made a couple of goals out of nothing and that's probably the end result."

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