Avondale turned a 15-6 halftime advantage into a 41-23 victory, with the minor premiers proving far too good for their opponents.

While Shamrocks fought hard to remain in the match, Avondale were outstanding from the opening whistle and coach Joe Aiono said it was the perfect time for his team to produce their best game of the season.

"I can breathe now," Aiono said. "It was tough watching the boys out there.

"It was an awesome game to watch though, especially that first half and the start of the second half, we kept grinding. That's our strength, using our big boys.

"That's the sort of game that we wanted to play. We knew Shamrocks are fast and get around the paddock, we just had to play to our gameplan. We worked hard all week and I couldn't be prouder of how we played today."

The Wombats may have run away with the match in the second half, however it was their first half that laid the platform for victory.

Avondale were forced to play with 13 men for a short period after two players were sent to the sin bin.

It was during this time that Shamrocks piled the pressure on their opponents, with the underdogs provided with numerous opportunities to take the lead late in the first half.

Instead it was Avondale who closed out the opening 40 with points, an Allan Tuigamala try handing Avondale a 15-6 lead.

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Shamrocks coach Paul Ridgway acknowledged his team's inability to break through in the first half played a crucial role in the final outcome of the match.

"Not all fairy tales come true," Ridgway said. "We had an opportunity today.

"When we were controlling the ball early in the first half we probably didn't take opportunities when we should've.

"We got a little bit greedy when they had guys in the bin when we focused on the physical challenge rather than being a little bit smarter about the ball and using that time when they had players off the field.

"I'm really proud of the boys though, we've come a long way this year and we'll come back stronger."

The half-time break did not slow the Wombats, with Avondale picking up where they left off upon the resumption of play.

After a sustained period of attack, man of the match Andy Duggan eventually crossed for his team's fourth try of the match and Shamrocks were never in it from that point.

Avondale ran in a further three tries, while Shamrocks crossed for three late consolation tries of their own.

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