by Davyd Reid
Ellinbank will meet Longwarry at Lang Lang on Saturday with a shot at the undefeated Buln Buln in the decider on the line.
The Eagles entered the finals series with an impressive win over Neerim-Neerim South in the qualifier but were not able to go with Buln Buln in the final quarter last week.
Ellinbank will be desperate to clinch the result to earn another shot at the Lyrebirds but will be challenged by a Longwarry side in hot form.
After a three and five start to the season, the Crows have dropped just one game to Buln Buln since and may have exceeded their own initial expectations in reaching a preliminary final.
The stretch includes a five-point victory the last time these sides met back in round 17, seeing the Crows all but lock away their finals berth.
Finals form of both sides has been strong, boding well for an enthralling contest.
A barnstorming final quarter saw the Crows advance to week two, where they completely outplayed Neerim-Neerim South in the second half to send the devastated Cats out in straight sets.
Longwarry's preparation this week has been a little out of the ordinary, with power outages still impacting their ground on Tuesday.
The Crows set up a makeshift trainer's room under the patio at Bellbird Park and trained on the ground following the umpires.
LANG LANG host Neerim-Neerim South in the reserves, with another close contest expected following a finals series of tight games.
ELLINBANK are also in action in the under 18s, meeting Catani.
BULN BULN take on Poowong in the under 16s.