Balgownie's recent Cricket Illawarra dominance has continued, with the Magpies defeating Keira in a thrilling grand final on Sunday.
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The win marks Balgownie's fourth premiership in five years, the only hiccup being a grand final defeat to Dapto in 2017.
The victory was not an easy one, with Balgownie struggling to chase a small total on a tricky batting wicket, however Paul Lynam led the team past Keira's total of 108 shortly before lunch on Sunday afternoon.
Lynam walked out to bat with the match hanging in the balance at 4-60 and delivered a fighting 27 not out to steer the team to victory with three wickets to spare. A further two wickets fell before the game was called with the Magpies 9-113.
Balgownie captain Graeme Batty said it was a tense morning as he watched his teammates battle a quality Keira bowling unit.
"It was an unreal effort," Batty said. "It was an extremely tense game, Keira fought really hard on Sunday defending a small total.
"I knew the guys had it in them, there's a lot of experienced campaigners in the side. Paul Lynam is one of the greats of the club, he got us home in the end. It was probably the most nerve-wracking 30 runs, getting us from 70 to 100, that I've ever felt, so it's a very satisfying win."
The Magpies set up the match with an outstanding bowling performance on Saturday, man-of-the-match Jason Bunyan and Jamie Fleming each taking four wickets to restrict Keira to 108.
The pair have been the key to Balgownie's run to the title, leading the side through their late-season resurgence, and Batty said they delivered yet again on the big stage.
"Winning the toss was a huge bonus and then Jamie and Jason delivered, that's Jason's second player of the match in a final. They're big game players and they want the ball in their hand.
"Keira got off to a pretty good start, but they contained them. There was a lull period when Mark Johnston was batting where I think Keira dug themselves into a bit of a hole and put pressure on the guys that can attack.
"Attack was going to be their main weapon, but they succumbed to the pressure that we could absorb. In the end, a few shot decisions by them went in our favour."
The bowlers may have provided Balgownie the edge, but Keira remained in the hunt after taking three wickets late on Saturday.
Keira captain Kyle Connor was disappointed with the result, conceding his side left a few runs on the table.
"It is a disappointing result," Connor said. "A couple of things could've gone our way over the weekend and they didn't.
"Obviously we probably needed to score a few more runs on Saturday, even the toss could have made a difference. We don't hold anything against Bally though, they performed over the two days and were good enough to walk away with the win."
Connor was proud of the way his team fought back with the ball and vowed Keira will be back next year, determined to take out the competition.
"I think that's been pretty much a trend throughout the year, we never gave it away or just folded over to any team. The boys did exactly the same thing today.
"We were up against it, we took early wickets and we gave ourselves a chance. Unfortunately, we couldn't finish it off, maybe with another 20 or 30 runs it could've been a bit different."
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