Eden lost by just two wickets in the second innings after bowling out Merimbula for 69 in their first then declaring the following day with just 57 runs on the board in the hope of bowling out the visitors in the remaining two hours.

Thanks to Matt Bell’s blistering pace that yielded six wickets for the match and imprinted the ball logo on various parts of the Merimbula batsmen, they nearly achieved just that.

Reece Wheeler chimed in with one more wicket for the match to combine beautifully with his fellow opener, but their efforts couldn’t make up for an ordinary batting display that ultimately cost them a chance at three flags in a row.

Eden likes to dominate attacks early but all momentum they may have had after smashing Cobargo three weeks prior was lost with the lack of play due to the weather and the whole batting line-up faltered against Merimbula’s steady attack.

There was nothing outstanding about the bowling, Eden just failed to get on top of it, playing loose shots straight to fielders or across the line resulting in a steady flow of wickets on the slow ground that only yielded a handful of boundaries.

Andrew Evelyn, batting at seven, threw out the anchor and hung in to top score with 20 not out before he ran out of partners. He was the only batsman to make double figures.

Luke Ryan was the pick of the Merimbula bowlers with 3/11 from 13 overs, although Matt Robinson’s three wickets for just eight runs in his six-over spell when Eden were trying to stem the flow of wickets could be considered more valuable.

The only chance Eden had to get back into the game was with the ball and Bell was at his best, ripping through for four wickets with sharp inswingers.

Meanwhile, Wheeler was drawing batsmen into shots outside the off and could have finished with better figures if two good chances off his bowling were held. Scott Wright, whose gritty resilience guided Merimbula to first innings points and soaked up valuable time, was dropped in the slips and at point, both times off Wheeler’s bowling. Were those chances swallowed, it might have been a different result.

That final Merimbula wicket fell an hour before tea on Sunday and Eden had fallen by six runs on first innings. Only an outright would see them get through to their sixth consecutive grand final appearance.

The plan was to smash as many runs as they could in an hour and leave two hours to try to bowl Merimbula out.

Mark Spink (12) and Bell (20) were the only standouts in the do-or-die innings that yielded 57 runs and set the visitors 51 to seal the match. Again Ryan stepped up with the ball, taking 4/32 from his five overs as Eden looked to push the run rate.

But again Wheeler (3/9) and Bell (2/13) were able to cut deep into the Merimbula line-up with support from Dan Bell who picked up a couple of late wickets.

There were nervous times in the Merimbula camp as the wickets tumbled. Runs weren’t coming on the wet outfield, they were facing a determined attack and there were no let offs with only difficult half chances going to ground.

Captain Spink threw six bowlers at them and it nearly worked with just two wickets to go when they finally stumbled to 53 to secure the final.

It was a gallant finish, but Eden were kicking themselves for getting into that position in the first place.

“You don’t win a final when you only make 60 runs,” club president Drew Mudaliar said. “We grassed a couple of opportunities as well, but in the end we didn’t make enough runs.”

“Not having Tyrone (Thomas), who’s moved to Queensland, and Toby Timms out with an eye injury took away from our attack, so that didn’t help.”

It finishes what had been a frustrating season for the Red team with a restructure of the competition to make up for the lack of A grade challengers and having to play against their own B grade side among the difficulties.

“It was hard with the way the competition was structured and all the washouts,” he said. “There were games that didn’t mean a lot in the Premier League (one-dayers) but there’s always the issue of trying to get more participation in A grade.

“Still, we had an opportunity to win three in a row, which was our motivation, but it shows how special it is to win those big matches because it’s not easy to do.”

Mudaliar went on to say that there were big things on the horizon for the Eden Cricket Club with promising juniors on the way up.

“The number of under 15s that we blooded in A grade this year will put us in good stead for the future,” he said. “We’re hoping that Corey Spink, Zach Slater and Isaac Walker will push for spots in our A grade side, so that’s something we’re looking forward to.”

Merimbula will now go on to face Tathra in the grand final.