Gallery | BACK-TO-BACK CATS: Mooroopna stun Nagambie in grand final to clinch consecutive titles

The Cats did the double on the back of a superb bowling performance that saw the Lakers dismissed for 74 runs at Nagambie Recreation Reserve, a target the Cats had little issue tracking down to win by eight wickets within 15 overs.

Alyce O’Connell’s winning boundary prompted a rush of Cats teammates to join her and batting partner Poppy Vandermeer – who carried her bat in a top score of 30 not out - in a jubilant team embrace, stamping their authority as the best team of the past two seasons.

Cats’ skipper Mia Earl said the result was ample reward for effort.

“Especially coming in as the underdogs, it's really nice,” Earl said.

“We worked so hard for this.

“Everyone's put all the effort in and it's great to see those efforts come out on the ground.

“There’s a lot of effort (that goes in); especially our coach Joffa (Jeff Vandermeer), he puts a ton of effort in.

“He's always ready to give us an extra hit. The girls will go down for extra hits.”

It was Earl who struck the first blow with the Lakers first to bat, enticing a snick from Madi Albers in the second over of the game.

Nagambie’s Bre Davison rode her luck at times but, together with competition leading run-scorer Kayla Shepherd at the other end, began to tick the scoreboard over.

That was until Mooroopna’s Tamsyn Hutchins snuck a delivery through Davison’s defences to end the partnership, and some tight bowling from Alyce O’Connell helped keep Nagambie to 2-43 after 10 overs.

First ball after drinks, the Cats got the wicket they were after.

Ebony Sleeth had the dangerous Shepherd bowled for 17, a timely strike as the Lakers talisman looked ominous.

Seamer Bella Woods took a moment to find her radar but when she did, it was with laser-like precision, knocking over Amber Langham before chaos erupted in the 12th over.

A mix-up between the stumps and Earls second wicket of the innings reduced Nagambie to 6-48, with Shelley Houston digging in for 12 runs before Hutchins trapped her LBW.

Kelsey Abbott led the fightback for the Lakers, hitting a defiant 15 runs in an effort to pull Nagambie to a defendable total.

Some crafty death bowling from Sleeth, however, resulted in a two-wicket over to end the innings, a stifling one with the ball and in the field.

Sleeth ended with 3-15, while Earl (2-15), Hutchins (2-10) and Woods were prominent in the carnage.

“Our fielding’s our strength,” Earl said post-game.

“We're quite quick on our feet to keep those singles down. Nagambie like to take the twos and we really limited that today which was really good.

“I knew I could throw the ball to so many of the girls, and everyone delivered. That was really good.

A target of 75 was set for the Cats to dole out two consecutive years of heartbreak for the Lakers, and the opening combination of Sleeth and Poppy Vandermeer did not let the side down.

Barring a few LBW shouts off some tight bowling from Davison, the Cats’ openers remained composed, though there was concern for Sleeth after a short delivery struck her in the face.

A crunching straight drive shortly after assuaged any concerns, and the Cats sat comfortably at 0-25 after five overs.

However, Nagambie would not go down quietly.

A mix-up in the middle saw Sleeth run out for 20, and when Hutchins skied a ball to mid-wicket off the bowling of Sharay Slivarich to hand the Lakers their second wicket, it seemed to be game on.

O’Connell’s appearance to the crease proved to break the brief stalemate, blitzing three boundaries as Vandermeer continued to zip between the wickets on her way to a game high score of 30.

And of course, the Cricket Shepparton Women’s premiership.

For all-round dominance, the best-on-ground award deserved an all-round recipient, and Ebony Sleeth delivered just that for Mooroopna claiming 3-15 and 20 runs.

“She likes to say she's not a bowler, but I love to throw her the ball,” Earl said.

“I always know I'm going to get consistency with her and that's great. Obviously with the bat, she always plays her role, which is really great.

“Poppy and Ebony all year have been doing the same thing all year and they absolutely did that today.

“Eb got us a great start and then obviously Pop was all the way there to the end which was great.”

The eight-wicket victory marks the Cats as the first premier of the revamped women’s competition and clinches their billing as the competition’s best club across multiple seasons.