THE Hastings Valley Vikings had too much firepower for the Port Macquarie Pirates in Saturday's Mid North Coast Rugby grand final, winning 29-15 at Oxley Oval.
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Adam McCormack scored twice for the Vikings in the win while Greg Lawrence bagged a five pointer of his own.
The rest of the points were penalties from the boot of Lyndon Gale.
Angus Knox and Simon Barbiero found the line for the Pirates, who were outclassed on the day but fought hard until the end to make the scoreline respectable.
The Vikings started the match at full speed and did most of their damage in the first half. Gale booted an early penalty before McCormack scored the first try of the afternoon after 12 minutes.
Captain Andrew West had a try disallowed before Gale kicked another penalty. By the time the Pirates got any decent ball, half an hour had gone.
Pirates finally made it onto the board thanks to a Chris Young penalty.
Vikings continued the charge straight after the break, with two quick penalties in the first 10 minutes, before Knox's try gave the Pirates some hope.
Lawrence's try sealed the deal for Vikings. It came on the end of a move the team called "Kabes", after coach Andrew Kable.
"I stole it from my old club, Eastwood, in Sydney," an elated Kable said after the match.
It was a special anniversary for Kable.
"Today is 10 years since my last premiership," he said.
While the scoreboard was lopsided for much of the decider, Kable paid tribute to the Pirates for their ticker.
"I told the boys they were always going to keep coming. They're an 80 minute side," Kable said. "You can't slacken off with them. If you do, you do so at your own peril."
His team was forced to do plenty of defence in the Vikings' danger zone.
"What can I say? The defence was unbelievable," Kable said.
They had a host of standout players on the most important day of the season.
"I thought Bernie Ryan was bloody outstanding," Kable said.
"Andrew West, our captain, he's playing on one leg. So is Chris Johnson. He shouldn't have even played today, but he did."
The Vikings lost just one match all season.
"When you're training from January right through to now, and you only lose one game all year, we're pretty happy with that," Kable said.
The team saved its best for last though.
"I think the boys really stepped up today," Kable said. "To defend the way they did, I'm very happy."
