After breaking the ice with a goal in the opening three minutes of the game scored by Bron Harper, Royals were in full control despite what LAC United threw at them.

With match winners at both ends of the ground, Royals strikers kept LAC United keeper Mel Rogers busy as Maree Beresford and captain Emily Paul cleaned up in the middle for the red-hot favourites.

Jesse Thompson and Jess Tinning tried hard for LAC United but were unable to find the net as Royals pressed their advantage to eventually run out 4-0 winners.

“It was really great to get a win out there,” Paul said.

“I think playing in the losing side of last year’s final really gave me the determination to play on this year and it was a great final.”

Paul was part of the Royals White team that lost to their intra-club counterparts Royals Blue in the 2017 decider and has been a standout in this year’s competition for the combined side and their charge to an unbeaten minor premiership.

However, the skipper admitted she was concerned about the side’s grand final prospects against Lake Albert.

“I think we were confident, sure, but I guess you could say we were also a little bit apprehensive,” Paul said.

“Lake Albert are a really good team and anything can happen in grand finals, so there was every chance that we could go all the way through undefeated and then have them beat us in the decider.”

Not even an early 2-0 lead could settle the nerves and it took two late sealers to convince Paul it was all over.

“We were up by two goals but it honestly felt like 0-0,” she said.

“Lake Albert can attack from anywhere and they know how to strike quickly, so they could’ve got those two goals back at any time.

“I really don’t think the 4-0 scoreline was an accurate reflection of how tight the game was.”

Royals also bagged division two and division three grand final victories in what was a great day for the club.

Nicole Rowley and Sally Hayes both scored hat-tricks in a four-goal win over LAC United while division three star Jade Beresford claimed best on ground as the Royals edged LAC United 3-2.

Full Time:

Division 1 Women

ROYALS 4 (V.Schiller 2, N.Rees, B.Harper) defeated LAC UNITED 0

Division 2 Women

ROYALS 7 (N.Rowley 3, S.Hayes 3, T.Gibbons) defeated LAC UNITED 3 (K.McEwan, M.Graham, K.Ristivojevic)

Division 3 Women

ROYALS 4 (H.Beresford, J.Engelbrecht, B.Macarthur) defeated LAC UNITED 2 (S.Curtis, S.Stirton)