The Marlins went through the regular season without dropping a game, and finished it off in style to claim the minor/major premiership double and their 11^th association title, eight of which they have won since the 2002-03 season.

With play looking unlikely on the Friday after a good dose of rain during the week, curator Chris Charnock did an immaculate job of making the ground playable.

With moisture still in the pitch Mulbring skipper Josh Lewis won the toss and asked Bellbird to bat first.

The Tigers lost key opener Jason Orr in just the second over of the game when he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Darren Sutton.

This brought skipper Ben Fairlie to the middle, and he and former skipper Rob Drage steadied the ship until left arm orthodox bowler Cameron Ross was introduced into the attack.

He picked up Drage (21) and then Matt Fairlie in pretty quick succession, and at the 20-over drinks interval the Tigers were fairly well poised at 3-73 considering the difficult conditions.

When Ben Fairlie was dismissed after drinks for a well-made skipper’s knock of 35, this started an avalanche of wickets that saw Bellbird lose five wickets for just 27 runs.

To add further insult to the cause, all-rounder Matt Tomlinson had to retire hurt after a ball from Brad Strachan lifted off a good length and clocked him clean between the eyes. He was unable to return to the crease.

The Tigers were dismissed in the 39th over for 111.  Elliot Gyler (16), Luke Weekes (10) and Billy Orr (10) were the other Bellbird batsmen to make starts.

Tom Cremona (3-10 off 8) and Strachan (2-31 off 10) bowled well in tandem for the Marlins, with Ross (2-13 off 5) picking up key wickets.

The run chase started a little shaky for the minor premiers who were 1-2, and then 2-29 when veteran Chad Lewis was caught short of his ground for 11 after a beautiful direct hit from Elliot Gyler.

However, Drew Olsen made sure this minor hiccup was only temporary, as he kept a cool head and played very sensibly for what was a match winning innings of 48.

He was eventually dismissed by Billy Orr to give the Tigers a glimmer of hope, but Cameron Ross completed a fine all-round game with an unbeaten 28.

Strachan made 11 and Greg Sheehan (nine not out) clearing the pickets for the winning runs to cap a well-deserved premiership.

Orr bowled beautifully for Bellbird to finish with 2-16 off nine, with Nic Siers (1-24 off six) and Dave Gyler (1-29 off 9.4) picking up the remaining wickets.

Supporters Club won the second grade premiership with a hard-fought two-wicket victory against Greta/Branxton at Bellbird’s Carmichael Park.

Sent in to bat Greta/Branxton made a positive start with Skipper Peter MacKenzie (21) and Shayne Franklin (23) surviving the seaming ball early on.

However, their dismissals saw a major collapse follow, going from 1-36 up to 8-62, with Rob Delforce (15) the only other Blues batsman to show any sort of resistance.

They finished 9-86 from their 40 overs, with Zac Sneesby (3-23 off 10), Dale Arnold (3-8 off eight) and Tim Goldman (2-13 off eight) sharing the wickets for Supporters.

The Goannas lost wickets at regular intervals in reply, and at 6-65 at the drinks interval the match still well and truly remained in the balance. They lost two quick wickets after the drinks break and at 8-67 this game was anyone’s for the taking.

Arnold (29 not out) played a fine hand in carrying his bat through the innings after opening. He and the youthful Jordan Goldman (13) carried Supporters past the required target without further loss to claim a memorable premiership considering they only just scraped into the semi-finals.

Mark Peace was the pick of the Greta/Branxton attack with 3-13 off 10, with Mick Regan also bowled tidily with 2-10 off four.

After finishing the regular season in third place, Denman Hotel claimed the third grade premiership after defeating minor premiers Bellbird by 29 runs at Baddeley 2.

Sent in to bat Denman Hotel were bowled out in the 35th over for 102. Dave McCarty led the way with 28, Ricky Lomas made 21, with Adam Bartley making 13.

Bellbird veteran Mark Stevens bowled outstandingly to claim 5-28 off 10, with Nicholas Wilson picking up 2-2 off 4.1.

The Tigers were on the back foot from the very first over when Dragons seamer Clayton Babic picked up two wickets.

Other than a well-made 25 in a fine all-round game from opener Stevens, Bellbird were always behind the eight-ball. They were eventually bowled out in the 25th over for 73, with Wilson (12) and Luke Meyers (11 not out) providing some resistance.

Babic was superb in a match winning performance for the Dragons, finishing with 6-13 off nine, supported well by Rob Clark who took 3-11 off 3.3.

Paxton claimed the fourth grade title after defeating Greta/Branxton Blue by four wickets at Baddeley 1.

Greta/Branxton were asked to bat first and continued the trend of low scoring in this year’s grand finals by being dismissed for 91 in the 33rd over.

Corey Stephenson carried on his great season by leading with 29. Will Young back from suspension made 26, with Cade Bradley the only other batsman in double figures.

Paxton’s wickets were shared between Garry-Jai Russell (3-19 off 9.4), skipper Brendan Hayes (3-31 off nine) and Steve Russell (2-13 off seven).

At the half way stage the Wombats were 4-52 in reply, but Hayes led by example with 30 to complete an excellent all-round game, with Paxton passing the target in the 33^rd over after losing six wickets.

Hayes was supported well by John Cleary (19), Mark Scott (18) and club stalwart Alan Orr (11) to ensure at least one premiership trophy was heading to the western suburbs of Cessnock.

Stephenson (2-36 off 10) and Young (2-15 off five) completed fine all-round games for Greta/Branxton with a brace of wickets each.