THE Swans Reserves will meet Ainslie in the semi-finals next week after finishing the home and away season on top of the ladder, despite losing by 32 points to Belconnen at Manuka Oval on Saturday.

The top four teams to play off in the AFL Canberra finals are the Swans Reserves, Ainslie, Eastlake and Queanbeyan. The semi-finals will be held at 2pm on Saturday 4 September and Sunday 5 September at Manuka Oval. 

Campbell Heath was the Swans’ best against Belconnen playing at centre half back before moving forward and kicking three goals in the last quarter. On-baller Dylan McNeil and Matthew O’Dwyer, who moved between halfback and on-ball and had 37 possessions, also impressed. Top-up player Jerome Farrell, half back, and ruckman Daniel Currie rounded out the best.

Daniel Bradshaw played his first game since he was injured in May. He played about 60 minutes of game time, which was the amount he was expected to play, but did go off with a sore knee in the third quarter. He will meet with medical staff on Monday to determine whether he will play again this season.

Belconnen scored the first goal of the game just three minutes in but at the six minute mark the Swans responded when strong play from McNeil ended in a Taylor Gilchrist goal. Belconnen kicked the next two goals before Currie marked and goaled from the boundary after some good work by Byron Sumner.

At the 23 minute mark Belconnen kicked their fourth goal but the Swans ended the quarter with a goal from top-up player Mitchell Gorman from a free kick in the goal square. The Swans were turning the ball over too much and were being beaten at the contests. They went into the break trailing Belconnen by 11 points.

In the second quarter the Swans managed just two goals, one from McNeil on the run after some good pressure from Currie, and the second from Bradshaw when he took a mark 50 metres out.

Belconnen had again opened the quarter with their fifth goal and piled on another three at the end of the term to lead by 22 points at half time. The Swans had improved their effort throughout the second quarter but it was not reflected on the score board.
In the third term Belconnen blew the Swans away in the first 10 minutes kicking three goals in a row before the Swans managed their sole goal for the quarter which came from Sumner on the run at the 13 minute mark.

After trailing Belconnen by 42 points at three quarter time,  the Swans looked a chance towards the end of the quarter. Heath goaled on the run four minutes into the quarter after cleverly marking a kick from Lewis Johnston and Sumner eluded seven players to goal on the run from outside 50 metres a few minutes later.

After Belconnen kicked a goal at the 10 minute mark, O’Dwyer goaled on the run and Heath kicked his second goal for the quarter. After Heath kicked his third a few minutes later, from some good movement out of defence, a win looked within reach for the Swans but Belconnen sealed the game with two goals before the final siren.    

Final Score:
Swans Reserves -  3.0 (18)  5.3 (33)  6.4 (40) 11.7 (73)
Belconnen -  4.5 (29) 8.7 (55) 12.10 (82) 15.15 (105) 

Goals:
Heath 3; Sumner 2; Bradshaw, Currie, Gilchrist, Gorman, McNeil, O’Dwyer

Best:
Heath, McNeil, O’Dwyer, Farrell, Currie