That's how long the Bathurst Bushrangers had to hang on to end their losing run against Orange Tigers in Central West AFL grand finals. But it didn't happen.

With a contested mark and a calm kick, Andrew Nelson broke Bushranger hearts at Bloomfield Oval in fading light on Saturday afternoon, the Tigers claiming their third straight premiership 10-11-71 to 10-8-68.

All three have come at the expense of the Bushrangers.

Nelson, like most of the Tigers forwards, had been blanketed for almost the entire match by a staunch Bushrangers defence.

But with the game on the line and a couple of kicks separating the sides, Orange lifted another gear.

One of their most experienced and classiest players, Tim Barry, kicked two crucial last quarter goals and made arguably the most important play of the match.

Nelson's goal will be the incident remembered in years to come, but it was Barry who delivered the game-turning moment.

With around four minutes to play and trailing by 11 points, Barry mowed down Bushrangers defender Tom Regan and won a holding-the-ball free kick. He went back and booted a major to bring the deficit below a goal.

It was the type of desperate effort that typified what was a classic decider.

VIDEO: Andrew Nelson's premiership-winning goal and the Tigers' celebrations:

"We hadn't given up hope at all. We had a similar game three weeks ago in Bathurst where we were 40 points down at one stage and still came back, so at no stage did we give it away," winning coach Nathan Pearce said.

"They had Jordan Longmore up forward, who I think kicked six or seven, and he dominated. But once that ball hit the ground, our defence was very quick to get it out and get us on the front foot again.

"It really was a 50-50 game all day. Andrew Nelson hadn't had the best of days but suddenly he won the game."

After Paul Long opened the scoring inside a couple of minutes with Bathurst's first goal, Orange hit back quickly with three in a row. From there the Tigers started to get a little break on their rivals before a Cameron Richards steadier just before quarter-time.

A nine-point margin at the change reflected Orange's superiority early, but Longmore took control of the game for the Bushrangers in the second term.

He booted four majors as his contested marking began to have a serious impact, and Orange battled to find an adequate one-on-one match for him.

VIDEO: What the coaches had to say after the full-time siren:

However, the rest of their defence was tight and the Tigers didn't let things get out of hand. They restricted Bathurst to a one-goal lead at the main break.

In the third term, Bathurst spurned a couple of early shots, but even Longmore's misses were hurting Orange, as Tom Markey took a good grab deep in the right forward pocket and nailed a check side kick for goal.

Dale Hunter pulled a badly needed major back for Orange when Bathurst threatened to get away, but it was quickly negated by Longmore's fifth. A Daniel Donato snap gave the Bushrangers a 17-point lead approaching three-quarter time.

Mick Rothnie nailed Orange's seventh just before the siren as the intensity of the game started to lift via heavy tackles and marking contests.

Rothnie hit the post with a gettable shot early in the last quarter and the margin shrank to four points before Longmore pushed it out to 10.

Orange were coming home the stronger, hitting targets and taking their time, while the Bushrangers began to panic slightly and were rushed with their disposals.

Barry's tackle and goal set up a grandstand finish, and there was a sense that something special would decide the result.

Controversy threatened to overshadow what was an absorbing contest when a 50-metre penalty gave Orange a shot from close range. It missed.

A couple of scrambled kicks brought Bathurst temporary respite before Nelson's brilliant mark and the winning goal which brought the crowd to its feet.

VIDEO: Andew Nelson speaks about his premiership-winning mark and goal:

As the siren sounded moments later, exhausted Bathurst players sank to their knees knowing that they had given a remarkable account of themselves but still fallen short.

For Orange, it was ecstasy.

"In grand finals you have to go that extra bit and I would hate to be on the opposite side of this sort of result," Pearce said acknowledging the Bushrangers' heartache.

"To have the self-belief, to stick together and get this result ... it is just great. This is history for our club, three in a row."

For the winners, Barry's influence was short but game-turning, while Josh Bubnich, Chris Rothnie, Mitchell McKenna and ruckman Leigh Turner were all influential.

On the other side, Long had his usual classy game, Longmore was an obvious standout, while Jordan Price, Sebastian Matheson plus defenders Shaun Noyen and Jack Vogan tried hard.

ORANGE TIGERS 10-11-71 (Tim Barry 2, Dale Hunter 2, Dale Cameron, Zach Forostenko, Andrew Nelson, Mick Rothnie, Daniel Sadler) defeated BATHURST BUSHRANGERS 10-8-68 (Jordan Longmore 6, Tom Markey, Cameron Richards, Daniel Donato, Paul Long)

GALLERY: All of our photos from grand final day at the Country Club Oval in Orange