That was how long the Bathurst Bushrangers had to hang on to end their losing run against Orange Tigers in Central West AFL grand finals. But it did not happen.

With a contested mark and a calm kick, Andrew Nelson broke Bushranger hearts at Bloomfield Oval in fading light on Saturday afternoon, the Tigers claiming their third straight premiership 10-11-71 to 10-8-68.

All three have come at the expense of the Bushrangers.

Nelson, like most of the Tigers forwards, had been blanketed for almost the entire match by a staunch Bushrangers defence but his side lifted late on when only a couple of kicks separated the sides.

One of their most experienced and classiest players, Tim Barry, kicked two crucial fourth quarter goals and made arguably the most important play of the match.

Nelson's goal will be the incident remembered in years to come, but it was Barry who delivered the game-turning moment.

With about four minutes to play and trailing by 11 points, Barry mowed down Bushrangers defender Tom Regan and won a holding-the-ball free kick. He went back and booted a major to bring the deficit below a goal.

"We hadn't given up hope at all. We had a similar game three weeks ago in Bathurst where we were 40 points down at one stage and still came back, so at no stage did we give it away," winning coach Nathan Pearce said.

"They had Jordan Longmore up forward, who I think kicked six or seven, and he dominated. But once that ball hit the ground, our defence was very quick to get it out and get us on the front foot again.

"It really was a 50-50 game all day. Andrew Nelson hadn't had the best of days but suddenly he won the game."

A nine-point margin after the first quarter reflected Orange's superiority early, but the Bushrangers took control in the second term and led by six at the main break.

Bathurst extended that lead to 11 heading into the final quarter but Orange came home the stronger and claimed an incredible win.