VIP Pulse added another title to their growing list of successes in the Armidale District Netball competition.
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The reigning champions took on young guns PLC Armidale in Saturday’s top division grand final.
The teams were neck-and-neck until the final quarter when the experienced Pulse side put their schoolgirl counterparts to the sword to win 39-30.
Pulse’s Rochelle Joyce said it is the seventh time the team have won the trophy since 2006 but the winning feeling is just as special as the first time they took the title.
“We started this club in 2006 and we have won seven premierships and the Cougars have won one as well,” she said.
“Our team was nearly exactly the same as last year's.
“We probably go into the day a little better but we are just as nervous, just as excited. We have been successful for this period of time.”
Last year’s grand final was an all VIP club grand final with Pulse beating the Cougars by one point but it was the school teams who were the biggest improvers.
PLC proved that, matching Pulse until late in the match.
“It was a close game probably until the last quarter, the half-time score there was only two or three in it,” Joyce said.
“In the last quarter their heads went down a bit and we ran away with it, we won by nine in the end.”
While they finished the season undefeated, Joyce said there was never a time where they looked like outright favourites with the top of the table fiercely competitive.
“We have had a really good season, we went through undefeated and we were minor premiers,” she said.
“In saying that, we won a couple of games by one point or two points so we had definitely been contested throughout the year. Lots of teams got close to us but it was probably our experience that helped us in the end.
“They're definitely younger and fitter and have amazing skills, we have state players and things like that in there, but the older heads helped us in those sorts of situations.”
Pulse will be back again in 2018 for another shot at the premiership.
“We may lose a couple who might leave town,” Joyce said.
“For the most of us, I think we will be around. There was a couple who thought they might retire but after winning they decided they will go again.”