Girvan and his team of Allan Breakwell and Kevin Robinson led throughout to beat Peter Long, Bill Siever and Mark Heath (Redhead) 28-23 in the decider.

The Marlins trio had looked set for an easy victory when they raced to a 23-6 lead after 14 ends, but the Redhead side won the next five ends, which included three threes, to trail 23-17.

Nelson Bay claimed their first Newcastle district No.1 grade pennant last year but the club has suffered some significant losses from that side. Terry Antram has switched to Soldiers Point and Steve Green has moved to the Dapto Citizens club in Wollongong as a greenkeeper.

Girvan said morale in the club had dropped as a result of those departures and those of other players.

‘‘Hopefully the victory at the weekend is the boost the club has been looking for,’’ Girvan said. ‘‘Sure, our stocks have been a bit depleted by our player losses, but we will still be competitive when the pennant season rolls around next month.’’

Girvan, who won the Newcastle district and NSW triples championships in 2009 with Brian Bateman and Antram, was forced to look for new partners this year.

‘‘With Terry moving to Soldiers Point and Brian because of work commitments not playing as much this year, I said to Kevin that we should join forces,’’ Girvan said.

‘‘Then when Allan moved to the club from Ettalong Memorial and was looking for a partner we picked him up.’’

But Bateman stepped in as lead when Breakwell was unavailable for their 34-4 quarter-final victory over Tim Twining, Steve Wilson and Jamie Minter (Raymond Terrace) and their 25-20 semi-final success against defending champions Laurie Wright, Sam Laguzza and Mathew Baus (Swansea) on Saturday.

‘‘Allan had his daughter’s wedding last Saturday so Brian substituted and he played magnificently,’’ Girvan said.

‘‘All the boys have been magnificent as we have had to come through the tougher half of the draw.’’

Nelson Bay have drawn what is being termed the section of death in the Newcastle District No.1 grade pennant. They will line up against Soldiers Point, Edgeworth, Raymond Terrace No.1, Redhead and Valentine when the pennant season begins next month.

No doubt the Marlins will be hoping confidence instilled in the club from the Newcastle district triples championship success transfers into Nelson Bay being a strong chance of retaining their No.1 grade mantle.