It was a case of third time lucky for the Port Macquarie Sharks in Taree on Friday night.
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The Sharks outclassed a previously undefeated Wingham Tigers 18-4 on the way to the Group 3 Junior Rugby League under-17 girls league tag title.
In the two previous clashes between the two teams this season they shared the spoils in successive 10-all draws.
But the Tigers had few answers on the biggest night of the year as the Sharks raced in four tries to one with Shelby Filipek, Tahlia Lacey, Makayla Hogan and Madi Coghlan registering four-pointers.
Co-captains Coghlan and Emily Wright admitted they were confident going into the game with the knowledge they had pushed the Tigers all the way throughout the regular season.
"After our semi final game we knew we really wanted this win. We trained hard through the week and rocked up to game day ready to go. We were very focused," they said.
"The game was a very hard-fought game but we stuck it out, and got a few quick tries in the second half stealing us the win."
The 14-point victory surprised most with the Tigers having only conceded 38 points throughout the five preliminary rounds.
Their line hadn't been breached in two successive weeks until the Sharks succeeded four times in the decider.
In other league tag finals, the Wauchope Blues defeated Port City Breakers 6-4 in the under-13 girls.
Blues coach Jason Smith said the premiership was reward for the effort his girls had put in all season with their only defeat a 46-0 hammering to the Breakers a month ago.
"They smacked us pretty hard and we couldn't have played any worse and they were red hot that day," he said.
"Defensively the girls were really poor then and once we had that loss we got into the girls about their defence so we concentrated on that from there.
"We had our best game the week before in the semi-final where we won 30-0 against Wingham."
Grace Smith scored Wauchope's only try of the match in just the second minute and the Blues held on with a much-improved defensive effort than the last clash between the two teams.
"I thought if we could get in front, chasing is always harder than leading," the coach said.
Emma Wheeler and Mischa Kennedy were two of the team's best defensively along with Josie Boys although their handling almost brought them undone
"We were pretty bad with our hands, but the girls were great defensively."
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