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The Ibises finished off its home-and-away term with an emphatic 8-1 triumph against La Trobe University Bendigo, earning third place in the overall standings to set up a first finals encounter of 2026. That came against Eaglehawk, with the two sides coming face-to-face down at Bendigo’s Truscott Reserve on September 6. From the outset, it was clear that the visitors from Tatura were the most eager to send out a message to their rivals from across the region, with Aaron Niglia wasting no time in opening the scoring after just two minutes. From there, the Ibises embarked on a procession towards the victory, hitting the Hawks with another strike as Zachary Ferlauto doubled their lead on the half-hour mark. Following on from the interval, Tatura really hit its stride, with ruthless finishing meaning that they found the back of the net on six more occasions during the second 45. Cody Sellwood set the tone on the 47th minute to make it 3-0, before Thomas Leech made it 4-0 just three minutes later. Another flurry of goals came during the closing stages of the game with Tristan Zito grabbing a brace, while Leech bagged a double of his own and Baltej Singh got his name on the scoresheet too. Speaking following the game, Ibises coach Jose Rivera was pleased with the performance from his troops. “It was amazing, a fantastic performance - the boys were hungry and played a fantastic game,” he said. “It was a great effort from the starting XI as well as the players who came off the bench too.” Now, the Tatura chief is calling on the club’s supporter base to serve as his team’s 12th man as they prepare to face off on Sunday, September 13 against Shepparton South for a place in the grand final. The winners of that clash will be guaranteed a place in the all important showpiece on Sunday, September 20 down at John McEwen Reserve. The Ibises helmsman also spoke with the utmost respect for the side that stands in the way of grand final appearance, after two entertaining contests against the Southerners during the league campaign. Back in May, Tatura defeated South, 5-0, at home before losing 1-0 in the reverse fixture two months later in late July. “The next game up against Shepparton South on Sunday is against a tough opponent but we have been strong this year and want to finish strong,” Rivera said. “They have very good players, we won the first game against them during the season at home but lost the second one away - so it depends how the boys are motivated. “It would be really nice to have the support there for that game at home and hopefully make the grand final at McEwen Reserve,” he added. In the other finals fixture, Spring Gully United defeated Strathdale, 3-1, following a Flynn Hartigan goal and two strikes from Jasper Williams.