NORTH Armidale have proved too strong for North Companions in Saturday's Premier League reserve grade grand final at Scully Park.
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The two sides had been the benchmark of the competition throughout the regular season and very little could separate the two sides.
The 1-0 victory was set up by one of Norths' youngest players, as 15-year-old Cooper Heagney scored the match winner.
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Norths captain Brad Dunham described the game as "a bit of a scrapfest at times".
"Every game we have had against Northies this season has been pretty tight, so we knew going in, the grand final would be no different," Dunham told the Leader.
"Northies play with a lot of pace, so we had to stick to our structures and play with plenty of discipline.
"It turned out to be a bit of a fight in the end, but we are really glad to have got the job done."
Dunham said Saturday's victory was made even sweeter by the fact the club had recently undergone "a rebuild".
"It's been a little while between drinks for us, that's for sure," he said.
"Armidale is a bit transient, so we have lost a few guys in recent years for a variety of reasons, but we are starting to see a lot of promising juniors make their way through.
"It's good to see those young guys really step up and blend so well with us older blokes.
"All up, they really deserved this grand final win."
Northies coach Gavin Thompson commended his side's efforts throughout the season.
"It would have been nice to win three in a row, but full credit to North Armidale, they're a great side and thoroughly deserve this win," Thompson said.
"We had some chances, but we were just unable to convert.
"Not to make any excuses, but the windy conditions made it very difficult to play in for both sides.
"Both sides had to adapt and I think Norths did that a little bit better than us."
Thompson said he was hopeful his side could retain most of its younger players.
"It is always difficult to retain our junior players, what with some of them heading off to university and things like that," he said.
"However, we will certainly do our best and hopefully be back here again next season."