After finishing third in the season proper the Hornets went into the game as favourites but after a convincing win over the Magpies last week in their first semi the Cobras were determined to keep their finals bid alive.

Clarro missed an opportunity early in the game when Gorton made a long break down the sideline from a kick return.

Unfortunately the inside pass to Johnson backing up inside went astray and the scores remained nil-all.

Not long after it was the Hornets blowing an opportunity. After strong lead up work the Hinton fullback crossed the tryline out wide but in the process of trying to improve his position, stepped on the deadball line and no try was ruled.

There was immediate consequence for their mistake. During the next set the Cobras made good ground upfield and on the back of some nice play-the-balls Badior darted out of dummy half and drew the defence to put Middlton into space.

He in turn left the fullback stranded with a deft right foot step to score under the posts for a 6-0 lead.

The game then settled into a tug-of-war of strong defense between both sides with Hinton eventually gaining the upper hand when they found space out wide on the Cobras left edge and their halfback planted the ball over line next to the corner post to score.

The missed conversion left the score at 6-4 in favour of Clarro.

At the midway mark the Cobras were beginning to dominate the middle and with Kieran and Matt Hinton taking control of the ruck Gorman made several strong runs to help put the team on a roll.

On the stroke of halftime the Cobras produced a carbon copy of the previous week by scoring as the siren sounded.

Whaleboat took advantage of the situation by giving Batey a little space up the blind and when he burst through two would-be defenders he raced 30 metres drawing the fullback to pass inside to winger Lewis and as the cover emerged he offloaded to Trappel backing up for him to score a very classy if not very important try.

Badior converted and the Cobras went to the break with a handy12-4 lead.

With the second half just four minutes old, Papamau made one of his characteristic runs as he charged at the defense and played the ball quickly for Badior duck out of dummy half and send Foot on a 25 metre run as he outpaced the opposition to score in the corner.

The conversion from out wide was unsuccessful but the Cobras couldn’t have hoped for a better resumption and now lead 16-4.

As the game progressed Clarro seemed to lose their way by failing to complete their sets with unforced errors or poor last tackle options spoiling their initial lead up work.

Frustration in their teamwork soon lead to lapses in concentration in defense and Hinton raced in two consecutive tries to tie the game up at 16-16 midway through the second half.

To their credit the Cobras lifted enough to regain their composure and on the back of good lead up work from the forwards, Trappel sliced through the defense to race over for what was a very relieving try.

A terrific sideline conversion from Badior left Clarro with a converted try lead of 22-16.

Clarro had the chance to put the game beyond doubt when Matt Hinton steamrolled a couple of defenders to draw the fullback and send Gorton on his way to the tryline.

Unfortunately for all concerned the ball was lost in the one handed process of scoring and the opportunity gone.   

The disappointment was lifted with 10 minutes remaining when Badior gave the Cobras a huge lift as he calmly guided a penalty goal between the uprights to give them an eight point margin.

From that result Clarro stayed in control to finish with a well deserved 24-16 win and chance at a grand final spot when they take on Karuah next week in the final.

The forward pack once again led the way for the Cobras but there were several backs who made large contributions towards the win and the form of young wingers Jesse Geddes and Shane Lewis is proving a valuable asset to the side.

The final on Saturday against Karuah is again at Lakeside with a 12.30pm kick off.