The fairytale Lakers looked by no means an underdog in a semi-final smashing of Kyabram, dominating their way to a date with destiny against Numurkah this weekend where they will look to deny the Blues a second straight flag.
From the off, the Lakers showed no signs of fear, with openers Ricky Misiti and Tyrone Muir adding 35 for the first wicket before Angus McKenzie picked up Muir for 13.
But that just brought the competition's most in-form batsman — Luke Nolan — to the crease, and what followed was a near four-hour masterpiece that batted his club to a grand final.
Misiti and Nolan added 61 before Paul Newman — having just his second bowl of the season — had the former caught behind for a hard-earned 47.
That brought Nolan's brother Mark to the crease, but he would add just 11 as Kyabram struck its biggest blow of the contest in dismissing the star man.
Matt Martin (17) fell soon after for 4-140, but Luke Nolan found a willing dance partner in Brayden Biggs as the duo put on 89 for the fifth wicket to put the Lakers in pole position.
Biggs fell for 44, but Nolan batted on, finishing on 90 not out from 191 balls as the Lakers posted 5-251 from their 90 overs.
Captain Mark Nolan said the batting had been impressive.
“We got off to a pretty good start, Tyrone and Ricky probably put them on the back foot a bit, but Luke's knock was one of the best I've seen,” he said.
“He probably deserved a 100, but 90 not out in a final was pretty great, and Brayden came in late and went at a run a ball.”
Kyabram needed a strong start with the bat, but failed to get it as Nolan picked up Paul Parsons (eight) and Kyle Fitzgerald (duck) early, while Billy McLay fell soon after for 3-17.
That set up the match's most important partnership with Newman joining star bat Kyle Mueller in the middle, but disaster struck 25 runs later as Biggs had the Redbacks skipper caught behind for nine.
Newman, who smashed his way to 24 off 23 balls, was cleaned up by Nolan four runs later for 5-46 and the Lakers could smell blood, picking up the next four wickets for 21 runs.
At 9-72, the game was all but finished, but McKenzie (26) and Jackson McLay (17 not out) added 34 for the final wicket before Nolan wrapped up proceedings with his fourth scalp of the innings.
“The three seamers did the job well, there was a bit in the wicket early and we bowled pretty well, certainly a lot better than last week,” he said.
“Once we were able to break the partnership of the two big boys, that certainly gave us a bit of confidence and we were able to kick on and finish the job.
“You'd have to put it right up there (with the best bowling performances of the season), we all bowled pretty well, it was a good deck to bowl on, but I thought it was a complete performance.”
Now, the Lakers head to a grand final against a side it comfortably beat last weekend — but Nolan knows his side is in for one almighty test.
“Numurkah had a pretty big win this weekend, so it looks like they're back on track,” he said.
“We do take confidence from the previous week, but they're a really good team and we'll have to be at our best.
“We haven't thought about it too much, it's just one game at a time, that old cliche. It obviously means a lot though, the club hasn't won an A-grade flag for some time, some players have played in losing grand finals, so we're looking to turn things around.”
THE GAME
Nagambie 5-251 (Luke Nolan 90 not out, Ricky Misiti 47, Cade Mueller 1-19, Angus McKenzie 1-21) d Kyabram 106 (Angus McKenzie 26, Paul Newman 24, Mark Nolan 4-25, Brayden Biggs 3-25)
STAR PLAYER
Luke Nolan (Nagambie): Nolan saved another brilliant knock for his team's time of need, making his third straight unbeaten half-century to steer it to a commanding total. Having been dismissed just once since round 12, he's averaging a cool 289 in his last five digs.
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