Kildare moved through to the final with a hard-fought 25-point win over a gallant The Riverina Anglican College (TRAC) in the semi-final at Robertson Oval on Wednesday night.

Kildare coach Peter Gaffney said it was the perfect preparation for the final.

“I was pleased to have a really hard hit-out because that will hold us in good stead for Monday night,” Gaffney said.

“We have had two or three hard games now.”

Earlier in the night, a six-goal second term proved the difference as Mater Dei posted a 36-point victory over Kooringal High School.

Connor Byrne kicked three goals during a seven-minute period in the second quarter that put Mater Dei well and truly in the box seat with a 51-point  half-time lead.

To their credit, Kooringal bounced back and were the better team in the second half.

Mater Dei coach Nathan Irvine said his team relied on some of their better players too much.

“We were over reliant on a couple of blokes and we probably didn’t play the team football we needed to play,” Irvine said.

“Connor came back in and we were probably too focused on him. I question who we kicked to for the previous three weeks because no one wanted to kick it to anyone but him tonight.”

Irvine believes his team can turn it around against Kildare in Monday night’s final.

“It will be very tough, they will rightfully start favourites and they earned that right when they beat us last week,” he said.

“If we take our chances, apply scoreboard pressure then we will be a big show, if we don’t, we’ll make it hard on ourselves.”

FULL-TIME

MATER DEI CC (71)

3.4 9.5 9.6 10.11

KOORINGAL HIGH (35)

0.1 1.2 3.4 5.5

Goals: (Mater Dei) B Myers 3, C Byrne 3, I Tancredi 2, N Leary, C Chambers; (Kooringal) S McLay 3, G Kendall, D Galvin.

Best: (Mater Dei) B Myers, C Byrne, L Redfern, D Morton, I Tancredi, R Flint; (Kooringal) C Galvin, D Galvin, S McLay, K Cowper, G Kendall, L Kendall.

KILDARE CC (58)

1.2 3.5 6.9 8.10

TRAC (33)

0.2 0.2 1.3 5.3

Goals: (Kildare) R Corbett 3, O Haberecht 2, E Schiller, T Anderson, N Anderson; (TRAC) L Delahunty 3, T Metcalfe, J Reynolds.

Best: (Kildare) E Schiller, J Haggar, J Gaynor, R Corbett, B Kelly, W Graetz; (TRAC) T Fitzgerald-Holmes, L Delahunty, W Farley, B Alexander, J Jenkins, R Langtry.