MURRAY Magpies rocketed into contention to win their first Hume league premiership after upsetting Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock by four points at Urana Road Oval on Saturday.
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After trailing by 23 points at quarter-time, the Magpies worked themselves back into the match to break the reigning premier’s 19-match winning streak.
Josh Maher’s side hasn’t been beaten since May 7.
“To the boys’ credit, they responded really well after being jumped,” Maher said.
“Our second halves have been fantastic this year.
“It was good for our belief heading into the finals.
“We have top-two locked away now which is something we really wanted to achieve.”
While Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock were dealt a blow on Thursday night when co-coach Jarrod Hillary rolled an ankle at training to join Ryan Johnson on the sidelines, the Magpies went into the clash without Maher and Zac Doyle.
Maher missed the clash due to hamstring soreness.
Veteran utility Brad Thompson was thrown into the ruck and did well against DJ Oates while Shannon Gilson continued his strong form with 30-plus possessions.
Ash and Derek Murray kicked 10 of the home team’s 14 goals and Dylan Hartin held Azzi medallist Luke Schilg to a reasonable output.
Alex Freeman and Charles Brosolo also played important roles in the second-half comeback.
Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock’s Nico Sedgwick was damaging with his pace in the midfield and across half-forward with support coming from Alex Wilson and Ron Boulton.
CDHBU gained a psychological edge ahead of the finals by defeating Howlong by 24 points at Howlong.
Although both sides were undermanned, the Power dominated the second-half with speedster Kade Rowe best afield.
Josh Lewis and Tim Cooper also stood up.
Howlong were best served by Chris Van Zanten, Declan Alder and Max Barraclough.
The teams are almost certain to lock horns in the first week of the finals with both line-ups expected to welcome back key players for the tussle.
Lockhart kept its season alive with a comfortable win over Billabong Crows.
With Jesse Margosis and Andrew Emery in everything, the Demons set up the win early and must now rely on Osborne losing to Culcairn in the final round to sneak into sixth spot.
Will Haberecht and Riley Kerr played well for the Crows.
