The Melbourne Unicorns have advanced to the Dewar Shield final with a 35-15 victory in the preliminary final at Ashwood Reserve on Saturday.

It was a dry, windless day at kick-off but the conditions weren’t doing either team any favours.  The ground was so soft underfoot in places kicked balls simply didn’t bounce up back after hitting the turf, making movement tough.

After a couple of early mistakes by both teams Melbourne found themselves in early strife when number eight Aaron Kelly was given a yellow card. The referee had no hesitation reaching for his pocket over what looked to be a relatively benign lifting tackle and Melbourne were down to 14 men.

Box Hill then suffered their own setback with loose head prop Jack Wotton coming off after a nasty collision in midfield.

Despite being down a man, Melbourne controlled possession and territory in the early going and looked to get to the ball to the edges. After a couple of early breaks were snuffed out by the Box Hill defence, the strategy paid off when fullback Deina Morete regathered his own kick ahead before offloading in the tackle to set up the first try.

Out to an early 5-0 lead, Melbourne kept the pressure on; kicking for territory and daring the dangerous Box Hill backline to counter attack. Playing in the Box Hill half paid off in the 19^th minute when flanker Ikapote Tupai crashed over after gathering an overthrown lineout. The missed conversion left the Unicorns with a 10-0 lead.

The Unicorns went straight back to work; Joshua Cocker-Valu’s try after another break down the wing putting Box Hill in a 15-0 hole.

With the ball in hand Box Hill looked dangerous at times in the first half but couldn’t break through the second line of Melbourne defence to create any meaningful scoring chances. Things got worse for the Broncos when Sowani Saunitoga was sent off for foul play with 10 minutes to go in the half.

Down a man, Box Hill did their best to hold Melbourne out but the defence cracked just before half time. Kelly atoning for his earlier discretion by scoring on the back of a dominant Melbourne scrum. Another missed conversion left the score at 20-0 going into the break.

Despite a dominant first 40 minutes by Melbourne their four missed conversions left Box Hill in touching distance and the Broncos showed how dangerous they are in the 44^th minute. After an initial break by the returned Saunitoga and a series of sublime offloads, Saimoni Rokowaqa finished off one of the tries of the season to but the Broncos on the board.

Not to be outdone, Melbourne scored a long range effort of their own when a Box Hill clearing kick failed to find space. Christopher Ling finishing off the counter attack giving the Unicorns a commanding 27-7 lead in the 54^th minute.

Box Hill refused to give up and after backing their scrum that had been under pressure all game, last week’s hero Filipe Vilitati sliced through the defence to reduce the gap to 13 points with 20 minutes to play.

Box Hill’s chances got a further boost in the 70^th minute when Melbourne were shown their second yellow card but the Unicorns were able to hold onto possession as the minutes ticked away.

Melbourne’s scrum dominance earned a penalty deep in Box Hill territory and this time Sam Vaevae’s kick found its mark, drawing ironic cheers from the crowd.

Box Hill had one last flurry of attack but couldn’t break through the Melbourne defence.

A late Melbourne try sealed the 35-14 victory and sent the Unicorns through to the grand final where they will face top-qualifiers Harlequins.