BEECHWORTH Bushrangers are now just two wins away from the ultimate glory, holding off a surging Kiewa Sandy Creek side 8.6 (54) to 6.10 (46) to book a date with minor premiers Chiltern in the first semi–final.

In the bright sunshine on Saturday afternoon the Bushrangers got out to a flyer, kicking the first five goals of the match and holding the Hawks goalless to halftime.

But the highly fancied Hawks stormed back to get within a goal in the last quarter, which was the margin for the majority of the term.

The Bushrangers though held firm, with Dayne Carey kicking the sealer in the goal square to hold on for a memorable eight point win.

Co–coach Tom Cartledge said he was extremely pleased with the grit and determination shown by his team to hang on in the second half.

"We couldn't fault the boys, they didn't stop trying all day," he said.

"Kiewa certainly threw everything they had at us and to weather that, hang tough, and keep trying to get the result was excellent by the boys."

Kiewa are one of the highest scoring teams in the league, hosting goal kicking targets of Connor Newnham and Nic Beattie, two of the most prominent goal kickers in the league.

Kayde Surrey played a strong game in defence to keep Beattie goalless while Newnham was well held.

Cartledge credits his team's ability to committing to a tight man–on–man defence each week.

"We keep it simple really, a lot of sides want to roll off or play a press whereas we will just try and grab an opponent, put our hand up and say 'that's my job for the day, I'm going to make sure he doesn't get a kick' and commit to that," he said.

The Bushrangers haven't had a loss since round nine and Cartledge said he can feel his team's belief grow as each week passes by.

"It's something we've developed throughout the year; we've gone from struggling for a while and not really having a winning culture to developing a winning culture and having a desire to win, and sometimes more importantly the desire not to lose," he said.

"We don't necessarily talk about it, but it's just one of those good cultures we've been able to develop throughout the year."

Beechworth were the last team to beat Chiltern back in round 11, beating them by 13 points at Baarmutha Park.

Cartledge said he will be looking for his team to be playing to their strengths again in the contest if they are to book a place in the grand final.

"We're not going to be able to take anything for granted, Kiewa and Chiltern play different brands of footy," he said.

"We'll try and hamper their run, we think they'll want to get it out wide and run it quick.

"So controlling the stoppages again and winning the contested ball to try and wear them out that way."