HANWOOD will make a decision on whether they contest a red card to Michael Musitano which has put his grand final hopes in jeopardy during Sunday's 1-0 major semi final win over Lake Albert at Rawlings Park on Sunday.
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With his side in front 1-0 courtesy of a Nick Kennedy goal on the half hour mark, Musitano was sent off for an alleged elbow to the head of Shark Duncan Brodie nine minutes into the second half.
The Griffith club had to dig deep in the final 35 minutes as the defending premiers tried valiantly to break them down, but they held on to become the first side through to the decider.
Lake Albert will now take on Henwood Park in Sunday's preliminary final at Junee after the Hawks beat Leeton United 2-0 in the elimination final.
Hanwood coach Anthony Agresta insisted there was no malice in Musitano's actions and will assess the situation before deciding whether or not to appeal.
"He was trying to protect himself and he's put his arms up, I think he's made a bit of a meal of it to be honest," Agresta said.
"We'll have a look at it, and see what happens.
"I'd like to think so (we have grounds to appeal), there was nothing bad in it. He was just in the corner trying to defend himself with the ball, it's one of those things."
He said Musitano would be a big loss for the grand final, especially with fellow playmaker Andy Gamble already sidelined through suspension.
"He's pretty big, he brings that experience and a bit of composure to the team but we know we've got a couple of weeks now to sort things out," Agresta said.
Hanwood reacted to the situation well by repelling everything Lake Albert threw at them and grinding out the result.
Lake Albert would have fancied themselves in extra time with the numerical advantage had they found an equaliser, but were unable to create many clear cut chances.
Agresta said he was proud of the grit his side showed under adversity.
The past two meetings between the clubs this year both finished 2-all and were highlighted by attacking football, but Sunday's match was more dire.
"Once we got that player sent off it opened up a bit but before that it was a pretty even game," Agresta said.
"We knew it would come down to one chance, and it did.
"Since the bye we've been putting in a fair bit of work on scenarios like this because we know that's what it can come down to in finals.
"You've got to do the work to prepare for that and the boys really stuck it out today, which is good.
"It's good for them that they dug in and know they can fight for each other."
Lake Albert exacted some revenge in the reserve grade major semi final, outlasting Hanwood in a penalty shootout after it finished 1-all after extra time.
Sunday's preliminary final is scheduled to begin at 3pm.
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