South Wagga are through to their fourth straight Wagga Cricket grand final after coming through a nail-biting clash with St Michaels.
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For the second week running it went down to the wire at McPherson Oval, but this time it was the Blues who came out on top to secure a grand final rematch with Wagga City.
Brayden Ambler set the tone for the Blues as he made 98 on their way to compiling 8-251 for their 80 overs on Saturday.
However Saints looked like they were going to chase it down despite losing two early wickets with Tom Byrnes putting on a breathtaking display.
He made 141 before becoming the eighth Saint to be dismissed before they eventually fell nine runs short of the target.
Blues captain Joel Robinson was thrilled with the gritty performance.
"That is as close to as good of a win that you'll have in cricket," Robinson said.
"The last three games we've played we've had our backs to the wall, and we've always said we've had depth, but it is just blokes standing up at the right time of the game.
"When the game is on the line there blokes need to stand up and everyone did."
Robinson (78) and Ambler combined for a 149-run partnership to set up the big score.
The captain was impressed by his partner.
"That was as good of batting as I've seen," Robinson said.
"He's scored a lot of consistent runs over the past two to three years and he's one of our club juniors.
"It is really good he is standing up for us in big games at the top of the order."
After the Blues lost Mitch Sykes, who took four wickets last week, hours before the start of the clash Alex Smeeth led the way with the ball.
The Englishman struck twice early, with St Michaels slipping to 2-10, before securing the key wicket of Byrnes late in the day.
Byrnes and Beck Frostick put on 148 before Warren Clunes struck to remove the Saints captain for 44.
The loss halted their momentum as they lost 8-85 to fall one win short of their first grand final appearance in five seasons.
Smeeth delivered a killer blow as he removed Byrnes trying to loft one down the ground to finish with 4-69 off his 20 overs.
One of the new faces for the premiers, Robinson continues to be impressed with his impact.
"Smeethy has been really good all year," he said.
"He had a bit of an injury in the last month of the season but we knew what we were going to get out of him when he was coming across his year and he stood up again today, like he did last week and like he has done all year."
South Wagga are now plotting a way to get through Wagga City after falling one wicket short when the pair clashed last week.
It is the third time in the last four seasons to two clubs have played off for the premiership.
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