Ainslie have been eliminated from the NEAFL finals race after going down to Eastlake by 1 point in their Semi-Final at Manuka.

An undermanned Ainslie fought hard to lead Eastlake for the entire game only to be knocked out of the finals by a point that was kicked after the final siren.

After leading by 1 goal at quarter time Ainslie won the second quarter kicking 5 goals to 3 to lead by 21 points at half time. The Ainslie defence were hard to get past with Walker, Fleming and Ghobrial giving good run out of defence. Ainslie were missing Nick Paine down forward but Ken McGregor was providing a target taking strong marks and kicking accurately.

Eastlake fought back in the third term closing the gap to 13 points at the last change. It was a tough struggle in the last quarter with both sides giving their all. Ainslie were hanging on until the 25 minute mark of the last quarter when Eastlake got on a roll and kicked the last 3 goals to equal the scores. A tense last couple of minutes in a long quarter that went for 34 minutes was broken when Eastlake's Bruce marked 20 metres out from goal and the siren sounded.

Ainslie were brave and sore but their season has now ended. To get so close was painful but it was a great effort by all the players.

Final score: Ainslie 11.8-74 def by Eastlake 10.15-75

The Div 1 team is through to the preliminary final after defeating Queanbeyan in the Semi-Final. They will play Eastlake at 11.30am on Saturday 8 September at Manuka Oval for the right to play Belconnen in the Grand Final. The defence played well with Davison and McCowan halting Queanbeyan attacks. Lucas O'Neill was good through the midfield and Spider Mulroney dominated the rucks.

Final score: Ainslie 10.13-73 def Queanbeyan 5.11-41