Gunnedah was the only team throughout the year to come within two points of Narrabri and the Bulldogs turned the tables to take out the title 24-22.

The victory left co-coach Darren Certoma – who also picked up the player of the match award on the back of a big-hitting effort – an overwhelmed man.

“I’ve got no words for it. Especially being down. Everyone just pulled together at the end there,” Certoma said after the clash.

“Very late start. It just took everyone a bit of time to realise we were going to be in for a long day if we didn't pull our fingers out.”

Gunnedah’s start was as slow as they come while the Blues were at their clinical best.

Tries to Michael Knox, Robert Condran and Troy Ward saw Narrabri shoot out to a 16-0 lead after just 12 minutes.

Following the third try, which saw a pin-point kick find Ward in the corner, the Bulldogs finally awakened from their slumber.

They charged up field with a penalty and Cameron Lewington scored to reduce the lead to two converted tries.

Led by Nimo Navatu, the Dogs started offloading at every chance while a couple mistakes leaked into the Blues’ game.

Gunnedah kept its momentum for the most part to bag another two tries to go into half-time down 16-12.

The Bulldogs started the better in the second half and things were level with 27 minutes left on the clock when prop Darren Mason crashed over.

Both teams shared chances but it was Narrabri who scored.

Just minutes after losing prop Marshall Tighe, Robert Doolan planted the ball down to give the Blues a six-point buffer.

The Blues kept the pressure on for the next couple of minutes but were unable to land the knockout blow.

Seven minutes from time, Navatu had three runs in a set, including the last when we crossed from dummy half. The score was back to 22-20.

Gunnedah charged toward the try line again with four minutes to go with Mason scoring his second next to the posts.

Once again, the shot at goal was missed – Gunnedah didn’t kick one all match – but the Bulldogs still had the lead, 24-22.

A nervous final minutes followed with Gunnedah knocking on before Narrabri handed back possession with one last roll of the dice.

While Certoma admitted he had a few nervous moments throughout the match, he always thought his side had the artillery to fire back.

“Once we started muscling up a bit and we got the upper hand, it was just a matter of maintaining that and running away with it at the end,” he said.