The 19-year-old frontmarker, trained by Ray Quarrell, had a nervous wait as judges studied photos of the finish to determine whether Robinson or Victorian backmarker Matt Hargreaves had got up after both were locked in a photo finish on the line.

Robinson ran strongly from the start and appeared to have the field's measure, but Hargreaves put in a blistering finish to almost snatch the race from his backmark of 6.50 metres.

Hargreaves's brother Chris finished in third place, with both John Henry-trained sprinters qualifying for the final.

``It was very good and I wanted that one for a while,'' Robinson said after his win.

``Last year I felt disappointed come the end of it, but this year I felt good in the heat and semi and I thought if I just dug deep in the last 50, being the frontmarker, I could get through it.''

Robinson said he was worried initially that he missed out and said he would have been disappointed with second.

``It's my best win by a long way and to win at Christmas I can't describe the feeling- it's fantastic- and to win here at Latrobe where dad came second in 1978,'' he said.

``Matt came hard very strong but I dug in and I got there- a close race is a good race.''

Running from a mark of 7.5 metres, Robinson won his heat in 12.81 seconds, finished second behind Hargreaves in his semi final and then turned the tables in the one that counted in a winning time of 12.80.

Robinson has been in consistent form during the warm-up carnivals, making eight of nine finals and placing in all the finals he made.

He said he felt strong throughout the race.

He will run next at the Devonport carnival and in Burnie on New Year's Day.

``It's going to be pretty tough now because there are some good runners coming down, but I'm in good form so hopefully I can back myself in and to get up for another final would be great.''