Three-peat and second hat-trick has Shamrocks talking club dynasties

Sunday's five-wicket win over Riverside was also the Shamrocks' eighth in the last 12 years and the second time in three years that they have scooped all three formats.

"That is special - you've really got to pinch yourself a little bit," beamed the proud skipper.

"There's a couple of other dynasties that come to mind with what Launceston did a while ago and then Mowbray. I guess we're getting into the same territory now and I think it's really important that we embrace that because it's so special and we should be able to enjoy it.

"That's our eighth first-grade premiership. I think Jono Chapman has been in all of them, Kieren Hume has got seven, I think I've got six and most of the team have won multiple ones now."

The Shamrocks may have a way to go to match the Lions' 19 premierships in 23 years between 1983 and 2006, but Murfet said the club is well on the way.

"What you see on the field is only reflective of what happens off the field. Our club is so well supported through human beings that are quality people. We get to go and do the fun stuff and we've been lucky to have some talented cricketers go through over those last 12 years.

"I'm just so proud of what we've been able to achieve. To win the Twenty20 comp, Greater Northern Cup and premiership in one season and then do it again two years later is very special and this is the first three-peat the club has had."

Chasing their first two-day premiership since 1980-81, Riverside began the final day at 7-106, 80 runs ahead after a first-innings deficit of 26.

The Blues didn't quite set the minor premiers the 120 run-chase their captain Peter New had hoped for but 108 was also never going to be a formality.

With the game so delicately poised, Blues singles were raucously cheered while the Shamrock fielders' succession of vociferous appeals led up to the indisputable scattering of Alex Tubb's stumps (for an impressive 34) by Chapman.

The ever-reliable quick wrapped up the innings to finish on 3-29 as Hume returned the best figures of 4-40.

When Riverside's opening bowlers Aidan O'Connor and Lyndon Stubbs both began with maidens, Shamrock nails were beginning to get bitten but Jordan French calmed the nerves with three consecutive boundaries off O'Connor's third over and suddenly a third of the target had disappeared without loss.

French (28) and fellow opener James Tyson (20) built a solid foundation before being caught and bowled respectively by Ben Hann. But after both Oliver Wood (28) and Sisitha Jayasinghe were dismissed by Tubb (3-20) attempting to hit the winning runs, Joe Griffin swept down to fine leg and ran the three required.

"It was a really good contest," Murfet added. "A lot of ups and downs and momentum shifted towards both teams on multiple different occasions.

"The way we were able to stand up in some occasions when the game was probably on the line ended up being what probably edged us home. We've won those little moments that have helped us get the success in the end.

"The scorecard suggests it's not an easy ground to make runs on at the moment so we knew any total would've been tricky. If the shoe was on the other foot we'd be backing ourselves in with whatever total was on the board.

"But at the end of the day we started out really well with Jordan and James going out and scoring pretty freely to get the initial nerves out of the way. To give us a good start was really important because then we were able to chip away and knock them off from there."

New had praise for both teams in the presentations.

"To the Westbury boys - you've been the powerhouse of the competition for over a decade," he said. "You keep winning in all three formats and now three in a row - that's a big achievement so enjoy it.

"We've had a hell of a run-in after Christmas. We finished the regular red-ball season undefeated and I feel we can hold our heads up high so I'm really proud of the boys. As much as it hurts, we should be proud of what we've been able to achieve."

Wood won the Ricky Ponting Medal as player of the match after taking 5-67 and scoring 71 runs in the match.

In an entertaining acceptance speech, the all-rounder said all players involved would look back on the contest and agree it was "a pretty good game of cricket".

He added: "And as for our boys ... how good?"