The Tathra Sea Eagles have repeated earlier form to cause an upset over the Pambula Bluedogs and secure a grand final showdown with their most prolific one-day rivals of the last decade.
Tathra have made six grand final appearances in the past decade with Eden featuring in seven of those years.
In two of those grand final appearances, the winners were the Sea Eagles, securing A grade premierships in 2013 and again in 2016, with the most recent result being Eden taking down their rivals in the two-day premiership decider in 2021.
The Sea Eagles were sent out to bat and scored 144 runs all-out after a steady innings.
Lachlan Trickey and Chris Dwyer established a good partnership through the middle with a half-ton between them before their respective dismissals to catches by Tom Foat and Josh Hammond.
Anthony McMahon had also knocked 25 at opener, while the Bluedogs claimed a few cheap wickets including Rory McAlpin catching Jayden Heyhorn for a duck.
Josh Hammond took a pair of catches that kept Tathra's run rate down, but 21 from David Shane helped the tally as the visitors marched on to an all-out for 144 finish.
The Bluedogs cracked under the pressure with the top order tumbling cheaply with the hosts finishing on just 79 runs.
In the other semi-final, minor premiers Eden made short work of the visiting fourth-placed Bermagui roster on Saturday, needing just 10 overs to chase down a modest target set by the Breakers.
Bermagui captain Jason Berry scored 16 runs before he was caught by Patrick Kearney off a Tim Bowes ball.
It was a stellar catch by Kearney who bounded high and nabbed it one-handed after Berry had put a driving shot toward the boundary.
Toby Symonds then made his presence felt in the field with two successive catches of his own, taking down the wickets of Liam Cooper and Ben Tett for just eight runs between them.
When Sean Lambert was dismissed lbw for six off a speedy Matt Bell delivery, the host team were on the front foot and never relented.
Jayden Shipton stood up to task, scoring 27 not-out for the visitors, but soon found himself running short of batting partners with wicket keeper Ian Smith bagging an impressive three catches for low runs as the innings dwindled for the Breakers.
Great bowling displays from Matt Bell 3/2 and Tim Bowes 3/16 as well as superb fielding had the visitors all-out for just 69 short of the 30th over.
Drew Mudaliar and Smith made short work of the chase, knocking 41 and 25 runs respectively with a handful of extras adding the difference to see the hosts past the required runs in the 10th over.
The Grand final is at Eden Cricket Ground from 1pm Saturday.
Jacob McMaster
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
I am passionate about amplifying people's stories and trying to do them justice in the written word. I find pressure washing videos soothing. email me jacob.mcmaster@austcommunitymedia.com.au or 0406 212 845.
