SFNL: South Mornington has locked away a top-two finish and will take on minor premier Frankston Dolphins

South Mornington surged into the top-two with a season-defining scalp — and the Tigers are hungry for another when they take on minor premier Frankston Dolphins this weekend.

South Mornington coach Chris Baker. Picture: Andrew Batsch

South Mornington coach Chris Baker says the Tigers “need to forget the two games” they’ve lost to the Frankston Dolphins this year.

The Tigers have secured second position on the ladder after a sensational win over Heatherton on Saturday, 16.18 (114) to 10.9 (69).

South Mornington begun the Southern league Division 3 season in style, 3-0 including a five-goal win over the Dolphins.

But some heavy defeats to the Dolphins and then Heatherton forced it back to the pack challenging for third and fourth.

The Tigers regained some form in recent weeks and reaffirmed themselves as the second best side in the competition on Saturday.

“They (Heatherton) jumped us at the start, every game we’ve lost this year we’ve been blown out of the water in the first quarter and haven’t bounced back,” Baker said.

“To be down by four goals and have the leadership out there to come back and put it to them for the next three quarters, it’s probably the best thing about it.

“In other games by quarter time we have just laid down.

“I gave them a bit of a spray at quarter time about playing the way we spoke about, last week against Frankston we spoke about playing a certain way and didn’t do it.

“On the weekend we started off playing the opposite of how we wanted to play but after quarter time we settled and went back to how we wanted to play.

“The older guys with a bit more experience stood up on the weekend.”

South Mornington huddle before the game. Picture: Andrew Batsch

South Mornington has lost its past two matches to the Dolphins by 98 and 140 points.

Baker said his charges needed to leave those results behind.

“For us mentally we need to forget the last two games,” he said.

“We were pretty disappointed with the last game because we didn’t play the way we wanted to, we kind of got shell-shocked and just putting it on the boot.

“I think for us, the longer the ball is in our hands, the less it’s in theirs.

“We need to be confident we’ve beaten them before, we know we can do it, it’s a game of footy, anyone can beat anyone.”

The top-two finish means the Tigers and Dolphins are only one win away from a grand final.

The loser will play the winner of Heatherton and Carrum Patterson Lakes, which play on Sunday.

Jayden Davis. Picture: Andrew Batsch

Baker hadn’t looked at this weekend’s final as a free hit but is keen for the Tigers to challenge themselves against the premiership favourites.

“I haven’t thought about it that way yet,” he said.

“We’ve got the second chance, ideally it would be perfect to get the week off, but if not then we play the winner out of Heatherton and Carrum Pat.

“It will be a good challenge to see where Frankston’s at, see where we’re at on a neutral ground.

“They’re (Frankston Dolphins) a really well-drilled side and they just run, they run really hard – if our players don’t run as hard they’ll get caught out.

“So that’s why we want to keep the ball in our hands, give our boys a rest and make them chase us a bit more.”