The major semi-final lived up to the billing as both teams entered the final minutes level at 1-all following a bruising and tiring clash.

But Abercrombie weren't going to wait around for extra-time.

Jess Daymond found space down the right side of the CSU penalty area inside the last three minutes of the game and put away her shot from a tight angle to deliver Abercrombie passage through to the grand final.

Abercrombie co-coach Jason Ryan was proud of the way the team never dropped their heads as they searched for a path back into the match.

"It just shows that what we've worked on all year is being reflected on the park. The extra fitness we do each, week mixing our training with the first grade men really does help," he said.

"The amount of injuries we sustained in the first 10 minutes really made things difficult. We've got our regular centre back playing up in the 10 role, but it just shows how much heart this team has got.

"Let's just say if we didn't get next week off it would have been hard for us to field a full team. There's a few of them who will be partnered with a bag of ice for a while. There's a few quad and hamstring injuries but they'll hopefully come back strong for the final."

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first half but they weren't short of chances in an end-to-end game.

Daymond and CSU's Jasmine Christie-Johnson each had chances inside the first five minutes.

Bridget Annand breezed past several Abercrombie defenders to get inside the penalty area but only her shot went straight to the goalkeeper.

Tegan Kilby's missed a long range attempt on the 20 minute mark but it was from that point onwards where Abercrombie looked the more likely side to score.

Taylah Murphy almost gave Abercrombie the lead on the half hour mark when CSU couldn't clear a corner and the ball found her at the top of the box, but her shot hit the left bar.

Kallie Sargent couldn't get away a tough shot from a tricky angle inside the last five minutes of the half, and it would be the last genuine chance for either side before the break.

But CSU turned the match on its head after just two minutes of the new half when Christie-Johnson's long range shot put the Vixens up 1-0.

Midway through the half Abercrombie started to find feet with their passes again and launched a couple more attacks on the CSU box.

One of those eventually paid off when a deflected cross touched a CSU hand in the penalty area and gave Poorsha McPhillamy a chance to level the game.

She made no error with her clinical hit to the top right corner to make it 1-all with 13 minutes still to play.

Daymond then found the crucial goal to send CSU into a preliminary final next Sunday.