CSU’s league tag team won their final 10-6 in golden-point extra-time.

It was nil-all at the break and while the Mungals skipped out to a lead, Wallerawang surged back into the game to force additional time.

CSU are well versed in the basics and the players also showed excellent individual ball skills, but the Warriettes countered with gritty determination which suppressed the Bathurst team’s flair in the second half.

Similarly, in the men’s final, Wallerawang kept the students honest for the full game and tested their renowned fitness with a toughness CSU found difficult to match.

The final was very evenly fought and could have gone either way, but CSU could not be denied championship status with their fine display of football, winning 14-4.

A big side, Wallerawang are going to be hard to handle for most teams during the premiership.

Along with CSU, the Warriors look a genuine premiership contender.

The tournament was an excellent advertisement for Midwest football, with all clubs showing improvement on last year’s form. The standard of football in both competitions augurs well for the season, which commences the weekend after Easter.

Meanwhile, the state of the playing surface of Tony Luchetti Sportsground is in poor condition, and with the football season already under way the authorities will have difficulty trying to rectify the situation.

Already patched up before the knockout competition, the surface quickly deteriorated through the day and by the end of the games, was left in a deleterious state.

Many felt it was in a dangerous condition for playing senior football unless immediate intensive remediation work is undertaken, and a number of strain injuries were reported from Saturday’s knockout games.

The chopped-up surface is in as bad condition as any major football ground at this stage of the season and it is going to take a mountain of work every week to keep it in any fair state.

Lithgow Bears’ Tony Northey blames some of the problems of torn-up turf to crows feeding on an over-abundance of grubs due to recent climatic conditions.

However, there were also wheel tread marks on the ground and poorly-bound patches of grass over the field.