As the higher ranked team heading into the decider, Corowa were named premiers after the grand final against Yackandandah was washed out late on Sunday afternoon.

The two sides had played a hard-fought semi-final just two weeks earlier, with Corowa winning out by just a handful of runs.

With that in mind, Athanitis said he would still savour winning a premiership in the club’s first season in the District competition, despite preferring to have been able to play it out on the field.

“We’re looking at it as we won the grand final, but the other team didn’t lose it,” he said.

“We’re certainly going to celebrate it, don’t get me wrong, it’s been a long year.

“It’s tough for Yackandandah, they’re a great side and we really get along with them.

“I believe the two best teams played.” 

Persistent wet weather mostly avoided Bethanga on Saturday, allowing Yackandandah to bat out their innings and set what would have been a very competitive total.

The middle order did some heavy lifting, with Cooper Garoni and Bailey Glass both scoring 31, but it was an unbeaten 41 from Cameron Evans that really left the Roos well placed.

It was Athanitis who led from the front for Corowa, with the captain bowling 24 overs for a miserly 38 runs, including eight maidens, and claiming three wickets.

Mark Athanitis (2), Brady Bartlett (1), Matt Ross (1) and Kaelan Bradtke (1) were the other wicket-takers for Corowa.

The switch to the District competition has proven to be a savvy one for Corowa, with the club on a high having won four premierships across various grades.

Athanitis said it was their fielding that had set them apart from most other District teams over the course of the season.

“I’m not going to say we’ve played good cricket all year, but when it’s really mattered we’ve played well,” he said.

“We’ve been good in the field, and that’s probably been the difference.

“We’ve found our fielding has been better than most, that along has won us a few games.”

Thinking back to the earlier semi-final, Athanitis said it had taken on a greater significance.

“At the time, I said to my wife after the game that it was all for nothing,” he said.

“It’s actually worked out really well,  winning that really hard game.” 

There was a chance of play resuming at around 4:30 on Sunday afternoon when the covers came off and the pitch was inspected, but after consistent rain for most of the day play was called off.

Corowa were also victorious in the District B-Grade, under-16s and C-Grade division two grand finals.