In the final on Friday at No.3 Oval, North Coast scored five tries to two and defeated North West 33-14 after building up a 19-0 lead at half-time.

McIntyre scored one try, set up a couple of others and finished with four conversions from five attempts.

This 35th NSW carnival will be remembered as the first time two country teams have played in the Shield Final and will be especially memorable for McIntyre, a student at Alstonville High School.

This was his third carnival at state level and it’s almost certain this weekend he will be named NSW Combined High Schools five-eighth and possibly captain.

Tries to lock Alex Brown, centre Zac Spring and right winger Frank Calugay saw North Coast away to a flying start in the first 30 minutes.

Coach Simon Graham praised his players for their fantastic defence and flare in attack during that period but having to run into a strong breeze in the second half asked for caution and the need to play the same brand of football again.

To their credit North West showed plenty of fight and a try in the first two minutes to prop Will Robinson and the conversion from John Porch reduced the margin to 12 points, 19-7.

However, good sides lift when its needed and North Coast did that when Spring scored his second try and McIntyre again converted for 26-7.

North West seemed certain to draw next blood when five-eighth Bevan French crossed the line only to have the ball taken from his grasp after a desperate tackle from North Coast’s Harry Brown.

Five minutes later Inverell High’s French made no mistake this time with a great try which Porch converted for 26-14.

But that was where the North West challenge finished when McIntyre reached over for his try after a lot of pressure from the forwards.

North Coast was the best side at the carnival and played in dry conditions on Wednesday and a quagmire in the rain on Thursday at Apex Oval, and then back on a firm surface yesterday in the final at Victoria Park.

North Coast started with 35-0 and 42-0 wins and were held to 14-5 by Sydney West in a semi-final. On Friday they got the job done with a fine all round performance.

North West’s carnival was also a good one and they showed in the final they deserved to be there. Getting to the final they won 12-7 and 10-8 and 3-0 in the rain over Sydney South West.

n NSW CHS Shield final:

North Coast 33 (Zac Spring (Banora Point) 2, Alex Brown (Alstonville), Frank Calugay (Alstonville), Jake McIntyre (Alstonville) tries; McIntyre 4 conversions) def North West (Will Robinson (Farrer Tamworth), Bevan French (Inverell) tries, John Porch (Farrer) 2 conversions).