THERE was a big crowd of Leongatha and Wonthaggi people building at Moe for the match of the day in Gippsland League, the Second Semi-Final between the Parrots and the Power.
And there was plenty of action on the ground and on the court to keep everyone interested before the big game with the Leongatha C Grade women locked in a ding-dong battle with Maffra, a team with whom they've shared a win apiece during the season.
The Leongatha girls emerged the winners after Maffra closed the margin on several occasions with Leongatha demonstrating superior fitness in the run to the line.
Their goalers Emma Ton and Makenzie Gourlay goaled with confidence and down back, Ash Payne had great positioning under the defensive ring while Jude Reynolds used her athleticism to produce regular turnovers.
Out on the footy field, a scene coloured brown by the failure of couch grass to grow during a wet Gippsland winter, Leongatha were leading by two goals to three at quarter time after Maffra got away to fast start with two goals, one of them by fast-leading forward Jesse Oldham.
But Leongatha came on strong halfway through the quarter with CHF Josh Schelling breaking the ice from distance, followed by goals to Tallin Brill who was busy and Tom Crocker from range after a nice lead-up mark.
In the second quarter Leongatha continued on from where they left off.
The start of the quarter was characterised by a huge hit on Dylan Garnham but he got up and dusted himself off and soon after the Parrots had another on the board, their fourth through Jarryd Stewart.
Tallin Brill again marked strongly and made no mistake from 35 metres and the Parrots' defence turned out a possible reply by Maffra's Oldham.
Leongatha's Garnham had clearly recovered well from his knock and set up the next goal after a fine grab by Lachie Wright who made no mistake.
The Parrots Reserves were on their way to the grand final, leading by six goals to two at half time and playing well from front to back with good skills and a solid game plan.
In the third quarter, Leongatha continued on with goals to Tallin Brill, Rhett Kelly, Steve Forrester and finally Tim Sauvarin who came up from defence to slot the team's 10th from long range.
There were to be no Maffra heroics with the Parrots shutting them down for two quarters on their way to a big 51-point lead.
Tallin Brill continued to do his chances of a senior call-up no harm with the opening two goals of the last quarter as Leongatha continued to march on.
Down back Leongatha was solid throughout with the likes of Tim Sauvarin, Steve Forrester, Darcy Hume, Rhett Kelly, Matt Borshman and Jarryd Stewart among those doing their jobs with a minimum of fuss.
They're a talented side with a lot of senior experience and they'll take some beating come grand final day.
Leongatha also won the B Grade netball in a thrilling contest against Moe and while the Leongatha A Graders went down to a very talented team from Morwell, it was a good day at Moe for Leongatha with four out of five teams through to the grand final - a great day for the club.