FALCONS 2000 will face Moe United in its bid for a Battle of Britain Cup three-peat in September.
Both sides negotiated their respective semi-finals on Wednesday night, when Falcons defeated Morwell neighbour Pegasus 4-2 at Latrobe City Sports Stadium and the Red Devils crushed Sale United 6-0 at Hazelwood South Reserve.
After claiming the cup in 2014 and 2015, defeating the Swans and Rams respectively in the final, Falcons will face yet another opponent in their quest to retain the oldest perpetual trophy in Victoria.
Since taking over the senior coaching role, Nick D’Alessandro has yet to taste defeat in the cup competition and hopes to continue the trend.
“We always love making that final and to coach us to three grand final appearances has been a dream come true for me so far. I think every one of us really enjoys getting into that final,” D’Alessandro said.
“It’s going to be a big occasion on (AFL) grand final eve and a Friday night game which will be something special.
“It’s a good position to be in to have a final already ticked off, to be in it a few months down the track and have it to look forward to, irrespective of what happens in between.”
Feeling the after effects of a tough draw on a heavy pitch at Olympians on Sunday, Falcons started flat against the Horsemen and fell 1-0 behind in the early stages.
With league-leading goal scorer and focal front-man Jesse Kennedy out through suspension, the Birds were forced to find a different route to goal, and Nick Steevens answered the call to draw scores level.
Daniel Edey then popped up for another goal, again displaying a knack to find the back of the net since joining Falcons this season, to put the host on top 2-1.
Approaching half-time D’Alessandro was dragged down at the edge of the penalty area and, after some debate between officials, was adjudged to be inside the box at the time of the foul.
Sam Amaira despatched the resultant penalty with aplomb to ensure his side went to the break with a 3-1 buffer.
Pegasus came out full of fire in the second and netted a reply from a Joel Pirotta-free kick to get within a goal at 2-3 down.
Falcons fashioned some chances but it wasn’t until Julian Baccega deflected the ball into the Pegasus net off his stomach, enhancing his reputation for bizarre goal-scoring feats, that the Birds were home.
The 4-2 victory shored up a spot in September’s AFL grand final eve cup decider, continuing a proud tradition for the black and blue.
“I think we’ve only missed one final in the last eight or nine seasons… it is an occasion we tend to make and we always seem to knock off a good team along the way,” D’Alessandro said.
“We obviously have the other finals (top eight) to think about this year but it will be a good way for us to kickstart that finals campaign which we’ve got in our mind as a big last month over September and October.
“Moe’s going to be tough opposition but you generally want to play the best team in the final to see if you’re worthy of winning that.”
Moe breezed by Sale in the other semi-final, led by a bag of four goals from Joel Baldwin.
Matt Shearing and Ty Georgiou were the other scorers.
The BOB final is scheduled for Friday, 30 September with the venue to be announced.
