Little separated the Paddies and Scots in the first half.

Paddies held a one-point buffer at the main break before extending it out to 12 at half time.

Despite the two-goal deficit, Scots were still hanging tough, led by the likes of Eddy Ziebarth and Henry Bouffler.

It was end-to-end football in the third quarter, but it was the boys in green who started to get the better of it.

St Pats booted another three goals for a 19-point lead at the last change.

Both coaches implored their sides for one final effort during the three-quarter-time and they got it.

The intensity rose and Scots made steps towards an unlikely comeback, but just couldn’t capitalise on some good chances. 

The Paddies booted 3.1 to 2.4 to hold off Scots, claiming the Elwyn Landford Cup.

Winning coach Paul Azzi said it had been a hard-fought battle.

“It was never really in the bag until the last quarter,” he said.

“Their pressure on us was great for the entire game.

“For us, we really had to stick to the game plan, sticking to our structures.

“Fortunately, it really came to fruition after half-time. 

“We had to get back to the things we’d done all year.

“We went away from that a little bit in the second quarter and they started to get on top of us.

“For us to come back in the third and fourth quarters the way we did was great.

“Our pressure was back, our tackle count was up.” 

St Pats stars Riley Bice and co-captain Tom O’Brien were named best on ground.

In the under-14s, Lavington produced an impressive performance after quarter time to defeat St Patricks and claim the Bill Schultz Cup.

Trailing the Paddies by a goal at quarter-time, the Panthers went on to restrict their opponents to just two more goals for the game, while piling on six of their own.

Charlie Sanson finished with three goals for the Panthers, while St Patricks Daniel Turner booted two of his own.

Panthers coach Steve Murphy said his did well to handle the pressure of the big stage.

“We had to try and keep the boys relaxed, there was a bit of nervous energy in the first quarter,” he said.

“But they did well to regroup, and played some great footy from then on.”

Clayton Marsh was named best on ground, while the likes of Pat Johnston and Alex Bennett also impressed.

Murphy said adjusting how the team went into attack in the second half had been key.

“We had a few options in front of goal, but Bailey Walker ended up playing a reall important role for us across half forward,” he said.

“We'd struggled once we got to that part of the ground in the first half, but he was really good for us there in the second half.”