The Mudgee Black Swans have advanced to the final against Bathurst in the CWAFL after they disposed of the Dubbo Demons on Sunday on a pitch that can only be described as a quagmire.

The victory was delivered by a strong defence that saw the Black Swans give up only two goals in the first three quarters.

The Black Swans’ defenders showed that hard tackling, great shepherding, plenty of talk and kicking to position set up their forward line for scoring goals.

Centre-half back Matt McKenzie and his fellow defenders were very determined in defence.

Coach Greg Dowker praised the backline for their second efforts, hard ball gets and turning the ball over to set up forward play down the field.

This allowed the midfield lead by best on ground Paul Baguley to dominate and continue the flow of the football to the forwards.

Ben Stewart continued with his form and was assisted with the ever consistent captain Brendan Balchin and Aaron Nolan.

The forward line was ever consistent and was yet again spear-headed by Dane Coburn and Terry Balchin.

It was commendable that the Mudgee team cracked the 100 point mark on the scoreboard in trying conditions of rain, wind and mud.

“This match was seen as a great team effort and in tough conditions it was very difficult to have a stand out player,” Coach Greg Dowker said.

“We are taking the final series quarter by quarter and one week at a time and this tactic is serving us well and we will continue this way in the final and now believe we have the ability to play our way into the grand final against Bathurst Bushrangers.”

MUDGEE BLACK SWANS 15-13-103 def DUBBO DEMONS 5-3-33.