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Mariners and Renegades played out two thrilling contests last Saturday at Malabar, in the ladies Scully Cup final and the men's Nicol Shield final.

Scully Cup

Police 4, Teachers 6

The first match however was the 3rd/4th place playoff in the ladies Scully Cup. Police were searching for their first win of the season and despite a close contest, they were just short.

Joanna Thievèrge continued her impressive season and was the destroyer in chief for Teachers, as she scored all six of her team's tries, and the inability to stop her proved to be Police's undoing.

Julia Mansfield with two, Rachel Black and Lauren Wilson scored the tries for Police. The final score was 6-4 to Teachers.

Renegades 4, Mariners 3

Next up was the Scully Cup final where Renegades were looking to end the season undefeated after romping to success in the league. They were up against their closest challengers this season Mariners and it proved to be an exciting end to the season. Renegades opened brightly and raced into a 3-1 lead, with tries from Laura Haynes, Nicola Jones and Melissa Field, while Amanda Maepaa pulled one back for the ladies in green. Just before half time Liz Breeze managed to get over to leave it 3-2 to Renegades at the interval. The second half was just as tight, and both sides were putting up fantastic defence. Mariners pulled things level when Amanda Swan raced clear for a try after a fantastic assist from Vanessa Toet.

Both teams tried to snatch the winning try as the game drew to a close, and it was Renegades who got it. A break out wide allowed Haynes to grab her second and what proved to be the winner. Renegades ladies lifted the crown after a 4-3 win over a gallant Mariners team.

Nichol Shield

Renegades 20, Mariners 13

The men's final was a belter, as Renegades looked to grab back to back Nicol Shield titles.

They missed an early penalty opportunity and shortly after, Mark Pomeroy was on target with one for the Mariners after an offside infringement. Soon after, they conjured up the first try of the match when inspirational captain Rich Brown went on a rampaging run through the static defence to go over. Pomeroy converted and Mariners led 10-0 after 15 minutes.

Renegades bounced back and gradually clawed their way back into the game with two well struck Eoghan O'Dwyer penalties. A wonderful offload from Ian Henderson then set Greg Garside free out on the wing and he sped away to score in the corner.

The conversion was missed, and Pomeroy put Mariners 13-11 ahead at the break with his second penalty. Renegades came out fired up for the second half and dominated the early possession.

Some soft penalties gave them three easy kicks inside the Mariners' 22 metre line, all of which O'Dwyer duly dispatched to push them 20-13 ahead.

Mariners came back at them and kept pushing as they edged their way forward. They were awarded a penalty but Pomeroy was unfortunate to hit the post. The last 15 minutes of the match was played at a frenetic pace, as Mariners again drove forward in search of the vital try to pull them back into it.

The Renegades defence was magnificent, and with Henderson having an outstanding day kicking from hand, he was able to relieve the pressure with some booming touch-finders.

As time was up, Mariners surged forward with another probing Rich Holden run, and they were camped on the Renegades five metre line.

Again the defence held firm and a knock-on turned the ball over to the jubilant Renegades, who cleared to hold on and win 20-13 after an enthralling contest.

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