It was a thrilling match from ball one by RSL Colts have done enough to book themselves a spot in another RSL Whitney Cup grand final.
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RSL Colts defeated Macquarie by 38 runs in the final which was played at No.1 Oval on Saturday with the game constantly in the balance before Mitch Bower stood up for the former taking five wickets.
Marty Jeffrey and his RSL Colts side were sent into bat first by Macquarie after some rain during the week made the pitch difficult to bat on.
Nevertheless, the gritty RSL Colts managed to make 117 before bowling Macquarie out for 91 to advance through to the final against CYMS.
Jeffrey was impressed with the way his side managed to pull together after a less than ideal start with the bat.
"With finals cricket, you never know what's going to happen, not everything went to plan in the way our batting shaped up," he said.
"But as a club, we've got a rich history of knowing that whatever we get as a score will be enough.
"I think we showed that as a club and as a unit we knew that the score we got was going to be enough."
RSL Colts got off to a nightmare-like start when Bower was caught the second ball of the game off the bowling of Will Skinner.
Jeffrey thought Macquarie's decision to send RSL Colts into bat was a smart call and the captain admitted the batsmen struggled early.
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"Just with the way the deck felt, neutrally it was sort of a bowl first wicket," he said.
"Always feels a bit weird being sent into bat but we knew that it was always going to do a bit early."
This bought Jeffrey to the crease to partner Brad Cox and the two were not phased by dot balls, but with the pressure to score building, the latter was caught at first slip off the bowling of Skinner to leave RSL Colts 2/25.
Anthony Atlee (0) and Chris Morton (0) soon followed Cox back to the sheds while Jeffrey continued on his way to making an important 38.
With finals cricket you never know what's going to happen...
- Marty Jeffrey
The RSL Colts skipper was eventually caught off the bowling of Lachlan Strachan and things looked made for the men in red who were 7/64.
Youngster Riley Keen was busy making 30 not out as RSL Colts were bowled out on the last ball of the innings.
Ben Taylor struck early for RSL Colts with the ball, removing Noah Brien for two before Hugh Sienkiewicz was gone minutes later off the bowling of Grant Malouf.
Strachan looked to be in an aggressive mood right from the start of his innings hitting fours all over the park before Bower struck removing him and Myles Smith to turn the match on its head.
Macquarie was 4/71 needing another 47 runs to win before they lost five wickets for just two runs as Bower and Tim Howarth ripped through the middle/lower-order.
Blake Smith was the last man to go after being caught off Howarth's bowling handing RSL Colts the win.
Following the game, Jeffrey was full of praise for his bowling unit, in particular Bower's efforts.
"That's the thing with our side, we've got blokes with bat and ball who when the game is in the balance and the pressure is on they are the guys who want to be at the crease or have the ball in hand," he said.
"Mitch showed when the moment came he didn't want anyone else on that field to be taking the wickets but himself.
"I think it just showed that when the pressure is on, we are at our best."
The loss for Macquarie brings an end to the first-grade career of club legend Jason Green after 30 years in the top grade.
RSL Colts will now turn their attention to next Saturday's grand final against CYMS, in a repeat of the same fixture last year with the former looking to win back-to-back competitions while the Cougars will be looking for their second title in three years.
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