In the highly anticipated finale to the weekend, it was a showdown between Manly and Maitland for the Waratah Men’s  Championship.  In a tense opening, both sides struggled to find their shot, with Maitland only scoring four points in the opening 6 minutes.  The Sea Eagles steadied first and behind some solid play from super-sub Kevin White, opened up a handy 13 point break at quarter time.

Manly 24 – Maitland 11

The Mustangs offensive woes continued in the second quarter, failing to score until two minutes remaining and behind by 20 plus, the game heading towards a blowout.  Backed by a huge crowd following, Maitland rallied late and somehow managed to stay in the contest, only trailing by 13 at the half.

Manly 33 – Maitland 20

Buoyed by an incredible crowd, the Mustangs would not say die and totally shutdown the Manly offense, while finally getting their offensive game going down the other end.  Led brilliantly by captain and point guard Andrew Allen, Maitland restricted Manly to other ten scoreless minutes and incredibly tied the game at 35 all on the back of a 22-0 run.  Manly finally scored some key baskets late in the quarter and finished on a 13-2 run of their own to take a 11 point lead at the last break.

Manly 48 – Maitland 37                 

With Manly back in control of the contest and with their season on the line, the Mustangs had one last run in them and back to back threes by Scott McGregor and Josh Clifford they were back in this epic final.  In an absolute cliffhanger some late Ben Arkell free throws sealed the game for the Sea Eagles, who thoroughly deserved their victory.

Manly 65 – Maitland 60

Defensive Player of the Grand Final:  #21  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles – Ben Arkell

MVP of the Grand Final:  #22  Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles – Kevin White