SUNSHINE will face the daunting task of taking on Spotswood in this Saturday’s preliminary final after eliminating St Albans from the finals race on the weekend.

The Kangaroos class shone through against the Saints, with one dominant quarter being the difference between the two sides. Sunshine took the match 16.11 (107) to 8.9 (57), with centre half-forward Patrick Wiggins kicking seven goals for the Kangaroos.

Sunshine kicked six straight goals in the third quarter to break apart what was until then a gridlock, with no side willing to budge and goal-scoring opportunities at a premium.

At half-time, Sunshine playing coach Brett Jacobs urged his side to attack the game and extend his side’s one-goal lead, and his players did just that, looking the sharpest they have been for some time.

“Something I speak about a lot is momentum. It’s one of the points I made before the game that we’ve got to maximise our momentum and minimise theirs, and it was good that in that third quarter when we had the momentum we really made it count,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs said he didn’t want to single out the better players because he only wanted to look forward to the preliminary final, but he did mention gutsy midfielder Shaun Harrison and commanding forward Wiggins as important players on the day.

“They were probably the two who really stood up when we needed something,” he said.

The seven goal to one quarter, which was characterised by a free-flowing, play-on-at-all-costs style of play, would have emboldened the Kangaroos leading up to the Spotswood clash this Saturday.

Jacobs said he was not concerned about the prospect of facing the Woodsmen, who one would expect would be ruthless after unexpectedly losing to Albion.

“If we’re good enough, we’ll win. We’ll put a side on the park and try to take it up to them and hopefully keep going to the week after.”

Spotswood coach Ben Kelly won’t be taking Sunshine lightly, and was impressed by what he saw on Sunday.

“I thought they moved the ball really well. It was a really open game, and Wiggins was a focal point,” Kelly said, ”You can’t predict how teams will go, you can only worry about what you can control. We can control our intensity our pressure and our make-up. It’s so unpredictable and that’s why it’s a great game and people come and watch it.”